


Goddess of Rock (Rewrite)

by FireflySummerwynd



Category: Poison (US Band), Rock of Love with Bret Michaels (TV)
Genre: F/M, Glam Metal, hair metal, reality dating
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-22
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:35:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 32,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25454017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FireflySummerwynd/pseuds/FireflySummerwynd
Summary: Poison bassist Bobby Dall's always been the most private and Mysterious of his band, which's garnered him a lotta speculation and goofy nicknames likeVoodoo Dall.But that Mystique's not always a good thing, while others it's extremely good–like when he gets blindsided by his wife and subsequently goes through a divorce.Between that divorce and his band going through turmoil–well, more than they've ever gone through before–he allows himself to be talked into something he otherwise wouldn't consider. Maybe it'll be a good thing, considering his eye's caught by one person in particular right off the bat, and he almost immediately feels like his heart's ensnared. Only Time'll tell whether this crazy idea's a good one, or if he was better off refusing 'cuz it blows up in his face.
Relationships: Bobby Dall/Raven Singleton





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanna say that–like the original version–this story's _not actually_ about the decade-old Reality dating show that Bret Michaels did. This story's merely based off it, but I still decided to put it in that particular fandom alongside the one for Poison since it's gonna be heavily based on all three seasons of that show, not just the first one.  
> ~Firefly

“Crazy MTV producer man say _what,_ now?”

Thirty-three-Year-old Bobby Dall stared at the receiver of the telephone he’d just pulled away from his head incredulously. He coulda sworn he just heard a man who’d told him that he was a producer for the infamous cable network MTV tell him that they were wanting him to do something that he considered utterly ridiculous. A fuckin’ Reality dating show wherein he’d essentially be surrounded by groupies posing as girls actually wanting to date him for who he was at heart, not just his rock star status? Surely this mother fucker was just pulling his leg–and he didn’t mean his _third_ leg, either–when he laid out the bare bones of _that_ idea.

 _“I shitcha not, Bobby,”_ the guy chuckled, making him press the receiver against his ear so he could hear him clearly again. _“You’re such a Mysterious guy that the public wantsta know more aboutcha, and besides, word’s making the rounds that you’re single again.”_

“Yeah, and my relationship status has absolutely _nothing_ to do with anything,” he retorted. “That–along with pretty much everything else about me–is no one’s business but my own.”

 _“Well, look at it this way_ – _even if it didn’t achieve anything else, it could certainly get Poison back on the musical map.”_

Bobby just barely bit back a growl at the back-handed insult–he knew his band wasn’t faring so well after the firing of both CC DeVille _and_ his replacement, Richie Kotzen.

 _“And even if it didn’t achieve_ that, _ya might make some new friends along the way,”_ he continued. _“What’s so bad about the possibility of making new friends, if nothing else?”_

“The fact that I’ma damn near have to stab somebody just to take a shit in Peace,” the bassist grumbled, making sure he was heard clearly.

Laughing, the producer who was trying so hard to sell him on the idea told him that actually _wasn’t_ how filming for this ridiculous show’d work. The only Time cameras’d be in what’d be considered his private quarters was when it’d anything to do with the show. If he’d to call one of the girls aside for a private chat that involved anything revealed which could make or break a Romantic relationship, part of the crew’d be there to film it. Otherwise, no cameras’d be allowed in his bedroom, which meant he’d have all the privacy he could want, even while they were filming. Whether he was sleeping, showering, taking a shit, or anything else he could think of where he’d wanna be left alone, nobody’d be around to see, if he didn’t want anyone to be.

Bobby gnawed on his lower lip as he listened, then simply kept quiet as he thought it over for a few moments after the guy’d shut up. He didn’t really know that he _wanted_ to do such a thing, and it wasn’t just ’cuz he’d always been the Mysterious member of Poison the World didn’t really know much about. After all, he liked his privacy outside the band, which was exactly why he tried to keep his head down more often than he didn’t, if something didn’t involve the band as a whole.

However, this producer was right when he’d called him out on recently becoming single again, something that still didn’t exactly sit well with him. The woman he’d thought was the Love of his Life and made his wife just a few short Years ago in 1989 had left him for another man. But it wasn’t just _any_ other man–no, it was his best friend from _outside_ his band, and whether he was a drunk or not, that’d practically killed him.

What prolly hurt even worse than finding out Mishy’d been cheating on him with his best friend, then decided to leave him was that she’d taken their son with her. He hadn’t seen lil Zak in three months since the court wouldn’t grant him even visitation, which he knew was his now-ex-wife’s doing. The woman swore up and down that they’d talk about him getting visitation if and when he got dried out and quit drinking, but she clearly didn’t know him very well. Alcohol was his coping mechanism when pretty much anything went wrong in his Life, and it’d been that way for nearly twenty Years.

 _“Nobody’s forcing ya to do this, Bobby,”_ the producer said, snagging his attention again. _“But we_ do _think it’d be a good idea on a couple different levels.”_

“Ya know what?” Bobby shifted the receiver to his other ear, which allowed him to reach up and rub the back of his neck with his Dominant hand. “I’ll give it a shot, but I’m not guaranteeing we’ll get past even the first week of filming.”

 _“You’re gonna be under_ – _”_ he started, only to get cut off.

“No contracts, or I’m _definitely_ not doing it,” the bassist growled. “I’ve enough of those damn things in my Life thanksta my record label–I’m not signing anymore with anyone else, including a cable network.”

A sputter met his ear as an attempt at talking him outta that was made.

“I fuckin’ mean it,” he snapped. “To be quite honest, I’m not even sure I’m _ready_ to date again after that divorce, and if canceling a show before it’s even completely filmed works out better so that I’m not playing around with a bunch of innocent womens’ hearts, then I’d rather go that route.”

 _“Well, I guess when ya put it like that…”_ The producer seemingly didn’t pay any attention to his veiled admission that he _had_ gotten divorced and was definitely single again.

“That’s the only way I’m agreeing to this Insanity, so take it or leave,” Bobby told him.

It took a few moments, but he heard a heavy sigh right before the guy finally acquiesced to his demand of not having a contract. He knew damn good and well he wasn’t happy about not being able to trap him in something that wasn’t of his own design so he could force him to finish the show, but he didn’t care. The World was damn fuckin’ lucky he was even agreeing to do it _without_ a contract–if it weren’t for wanting to at least make some new friends, he wouldn’t even do it with that particular condition put on it.

After being told that they’d a few thingsta hammer out there at the network’s headquarters and would get back in touch with him, the bassist sighed as he hung up the phone. He didn’t know what the hell he’d just gotten himself into, but something told him it was gonna be wilder and crazier than any tour he’d ever been on. That included this most recent tour, which’d almost Ended two months early when Richie’d sat down with their drummer to tell him that he’d been sleeping with his girl. But since he wasn’t directly involved in that and they’d managed to finish up their tour properly, he didn’t wanna think about his friend’s problems. He’d enough of his own to worry about right now, starting with this crazy TV show he’d agreed to do on a whim.

The sensation of the whiskey burning a path down to his belly after he’d poured and knocked back a shot made him groan. Bobby was honestly _trying_ to cut down on his drinking, which was why he was even bothering with a shot glass. He just didn’t know how much Luck he was gonna have with that effort, let alone with this dating show, and that was what tempted him to pour another shot. Maybe that producer was right, and he’d at least make some new friends, but he certainly hoped it actually worked out so that he found another girlfriend, even if it _was_ a bit soon after his divorce.

But what he prolly hoped for more than anything wasta find a girlfriend who was trustworthy enough to go even further than that with. In addition to that, he hoped that– _if_ this worked out even that well–whoever wound up getting to fill such a role in his Life could handle him being a dad. Nothing meant more to him than his son, and he wanted a woman who could handle a ready-made family walking into things with him.


	2. One

_April, 1994_

_Los Angeles, California_

Bobby let out a groaned sigh as he flopped across the bed in the master bedroom of the house that’d been rented for the Insanity that wasta be his Life for the next three months or so. If he hadn’t already been in Los Angeles due to at least _trying_ to record a new album with yet another new guitarist, he’d have wanted to do this in Florida. After all, he was _from_ Florida–he’d been born in Miami, where he was raised till he was two–so he’d much rather show the girls one of his favorite places on Earth. He was just much more _in his element,_ as it were, when he was in his home State, but there was no sense in dragging himself out East for this, only to have to Return to California to continue recording.

The guy who’d been brought on as his band’s head of security after the unfortunate passing of his band mate’s personal body guard a few Years ago chuckled as he set his bags down in the closet. He knew he’d a rough Night the Night previous since he still wasn’t mentally prepared for the torture he was about to put himself through. Bring hungover this Morn–or was it afternoon?–wasn’t much of a surpriseta Big John or anyone else who knew him, especially when he was stressed out over something.

“Ya feeling better now, man?” the former Marine-turned-body guard asked, gently settling on the edge of the bed next to his thigh.

“Just wanna go back to sleep,” he groaned as he rolled onto his side.

“Can’t do that, unfortunately,” Big John chuckled. “I Wish ya could, if only so you’re not an ornery ass, but we don’t have Time for that.”

_“Ugggghhhh…”_ The bassist grumbled as he pushed himself upright again and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

“Go get yourself ready,” he told him. “I’ve a few more thingsta take care of before the girls get here so that we’re ready to go.”

“Not like I’ve much of a choice, I suppose,” Bobby sighed.

Careful to keep his volume down, the body guard laughed as they both rose from the bed, then split so they could head off in separate Directions. He was grateful that this guy–who was also a decently close friend of himself _and_ his band mates–was aware that he couldn’t take loud noises right now. For the Love of God, he’d a deep voice of his own that liked to Travel, but this guy’d to have the balls of a Bull or something. Big John’s voice was so much deeper than his own, whether he was having a conversation, laughing, or whispering sweet-nothings in some chick’s ear.

Walking into the master bathroom, the bassist couldn’t help the slight smile that crossed his face as he headed into the closet, which branched off it. The bathroom was easily the size of his bedroom back home in Florida, but that was just how So Cal houses tended to be in comparison. At least the damn thing’d a huge shower since he usually wasn’t much for baths, but still offered even that option when he really needed to relax.

Feeling the hot Water cascading over his flesh a few short minutes later drew another groaned sigh from the depths of his chest. Whether he was Stone-cold sober, drunker than ten thousand Indians, or hungover like a mother fucker, Bobby desperately needed a shower. If nothing else, he could at least wash his hair–which was admittedly starting to get on his nerves since it was the longest it’d ever been. After all, the wavy tresses he’d finally allowed to fade back to more or less their Natural Color reached his nipples now.

Once he’d gotten himself cleaned up so that he only looked jet-lagged at worst, he killed the shower and reached out the door to the towel bar just outside it. He’d already hung a couple towels from one of the shelves there so they’d be within easy reach once he was ready for them. They definitely felt good against his flesh–or at least, the one he was actually drying off with did–’cuz he was definitely a bit left of Center on that one. It wasn’t just his women that he liked soft and cuddly–blankets and towels were right up there on the list of things that he preferred soft and to give him the feeling of being ready to fall asleep with. To be quite honest, he almost wanted to just curl up with these towels and say _fuck it_ when it came to the girls and this show.

“Five minutes till ya gotta make your first appearance,” Big John said from the master bedroom, startling him as he pulled his jeans up.

“Jesus Christ on a pogo stick!” the bassist yelped. Being startled had made him jerk his jeans up a lil too high, which made the crotch seam damn near murder his balls till he yanked them back down a bit.

“Sorry, man,” he chuckled. “Ya didn’t seem to hear when I knocked on the bedroom door.”

“Lost in my own lil World, I guess,” Bobby sighed. “I mean, I’m terrified and beyond nervous, so I’d rather just curl up in bed with these fuckin’ towels and go to sleep.”

“You’re so fuckin’ weird,” the body guard laughed. “But then again, so’s the rest of Poison, so what’s new there?”

“I know, right?” he agreed with a laugh of his own. “But hey, I’d rather be weird than this dreaded _normal_ any Day of the week.”

“Can’t say I disagree there,” Big John admitted. “But finish up while I’m getting the girls lined up out front–first elimination happens before they ever walk in the front door.”

“Wait, what?” He turned a bit of a surprised look on him.

The body guard explained that there were twenty-five girls being dropped off either one-by-one, or a handful at a Time. First elimination was gonna happen right out front in the driveway, ’cuz the five that he didn’t feel the slightest attraction to right off the bat were gonna be sent back home. Sure, not every relationship was even Lust-at-first-sight, but there’d to be _some_ kinda chemistry there from the Beginning, or it’d never work out.

Nodding, Bobby snatched his hairbrush off the counter he was standing in front of so he could tame the rat’s nest he called his hair. He wasn’t gonna bother wasting Time by trying to tease it up like he’d have done a few short Years ago–he actually preferred just going _au Naturale_. To be quite honest, he was still deciding whether or not he wanted to even bother with eyeliner to make his eyes pop more. It was a pretty hard feat to manage sometimes, considering how Dark his eyes were in comparison to his band mates, but it could still be done when he tried hard enough.

After he’d gotten his hair brushed and blow-dried enough that he didn’t look like he’d just climbed outta the pool out back, the bassist heaved a sigh. He’d decided on at least minimal eyeliner, which he wanted to look as closeta perfect as he could possibly get without stabbing his eye out. Fuck, he didn’t need to be going downstairsta greet what were no doubt a bunch of groupie bimbos with eyes more bloodshot than what still being a bit hungover woulda caused.

“All right, ladies.”

Now standing right inside the front door, he could hear everything Big John was saying.

“I’ve everyone’s attention, right?” the body guard asked.

A chorus of positive answers and cheers filled the Air outside the door.

“Then Time to introduce the man of the hour,” he chuckled.

Taking a deep breath and plastering on the smile he was forever being told made him look all the more endearing, Bobby took his cue and wrenched open the double doors before him.

Cheers and applause started up before he even got one foot out onto the front porch, and between that and the bright Sunlight, he couldn’t help a slight wince. He hoped his smile hadn’t faltered too much as he walked down the trio of steps that led up to said porch, but he couldn’t help it, if it _did_. Given the way his head was throbbing right now, he really Wished this part coulda been done inside so that he was making his first appearance by coming down the curved staircase into the foyer. At least it was a lil dimmer inside, despite all the windows that let in bukoos of Natural Light, and therefore a bit more tolerable.

“How’re we all doing today, ladies?” the bassist asked as he joined his friend.

More cheers rang out–well, with the exception of one girl that’d already more than caught his eye–and he definitely couldn’t help a wince this Time.

“All right, all right–I’m glad to hear that, but let’s tone it down a lil, yeah?” Bobby chuckled. “I’m not gonna deny that I’m feeling a lil rough after a long, late Night since it’s just part and parcel of my Lifestyle.”

Several girls winced sympathetically, others looking bored as he said that, and that threw up a few red flags for him.

“Now, I’m assuming the premise of this has been explained to everybody?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s already been explained,” Big John answered, nodding.

_“Mmm…”_ The bassist hummed thoughtfully as he let his eyes rake over the group of girls, purposely taking care not to let them linger on the one who’d caught his eye overmuch.

All the girls squirmed nervously as he did, wondering what on Earth he could be thinking.

“The five of ya hang tight,” Bobby finally said after pointing out the five he just wasn’t feeling it with. “Everybody else, let’s head on in before my head explodes.”

The girls took a bit more care to keep their volume down this Time, but still cheered as they headed up to the front door. Well, all of them _except_ that one chick he was already so interested in, who managed to catch his attention even more without even trying. Before she followed the rest of the chicks up to the front door, she grabbed not only her suitcase, but something that was all too familiar to him.

In the house, the majority of the girls seemed to crowd into or around the tiny lil bar that overlooked the bigger of the formal living rooms almost instantly. A couple others started up the stairs or down the hallways that led to either side of the house once he’d pointed out where the bedrooms were. He knew there were gonna be four girlsta a bedroom to start off with, ’cuz only Big John was gonna be sleeping in the master suite with him. And even then, his friend was gonna be on a sofa bed that was set up in the lil private living area that opened up to the balcony that overlooked the back yard.

Since he still wasn’t feeling so hot, the bassist said he was running upstairs for a couple minutes so he could grab some Excedrin or something while the girls were getting settled. Well, the ones who weren’t getting an early start on the partying and drinking, that is, considering how many were already diving into bottles. Besides, his stomach was feeling a lil upset, and he didn’t mean in the sense that he was about to lose the remnants of his breakfast.

As he started up the stairs, Bobby watched four of the girls head down the hallway that branched off to the left from the front door. He couldn’t help how attracted he wasta the chick who carried an obvious gig bag on one shoulder, ’cuz he was pretty sure it wasn’t serving as just an impromptu suitcase. There was no doubt in his mind that it held a guitar or bass, and he was willing to lay his money on it being a bass. It looked about the same length as his own gig bags that were made for basses, but he knew it could also hold a guitar since guitars were shorter. Either way, he felt they were gonna be able to form a pretty tight bond once he started talking to her, ’cuz he wanted a girl who understood his Lifestyle and Creativity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, guys–here's the link to the house that's serving as the _Goddess of Rock_ house for this story. It strikes me as way too big and fancy to suit Bobby's normal tastes when it comesta living accommodations, but anyone who's ever seen the first two seasons of _Rock of Love with Bret Michaels_ will see what I was shooting for in choosing this house.  
> ~Firefly
> 
> Link to _Goddess of Rock_ House–https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1420-Bienveneda-Ave-Pacific-Palisades-CA-90272/20544742_zpid/?


	3. Two

In the downstairs bedroom that was on the left-hand side of the house as viewed from the front gate, the girl who’d already caught the eye of the man they were competing for heaved a sigh. Aptly named after the Celtic Goddess of many things, including War and Death, Morrígan Singleton wasn’t a girl to be fucked with. She was often pretty reserved till she was completely comfortable in her surroundings, but if somebody started coming after her, especially for no reason at all–well, it was on like Donkey Kong.

One of the things that often made her stand out from most others was the fact that she was a selective mute till she was comfortable around somebody. She knew that was gonna make things hard for her on this insane dating show she’d agreed to appear on, no matter what kinda turn things took. All she’d do was grunt or make some other small Sound till she felt comfortable–till she reached that point, she usually signed, as long as someone in the vicinity knew sign language, too. If that wasn’t an option, she’d simply write notes by way of Communicating with those around her, but signing was often quicker and easier for her. With any Luck, one of these girls’d be able to sign, and therefore pass on a quick message to Bobby and Big John for her.

“Huh?” The girl she’d just tapped on the shoulder spun around to look at her. “What’s up?”

_Ya wouldn’t happen to know sign language, wouldja?_ she’d written on a sheet of paper she’d pulled outta her bag.

“Actually, I _do_ –my grandmother’s completely deaf,” she chuckled.

_Just call me Raven,_ the young woman signed, a grin appearing across her face. _You’d never get my name right without hearing it, but I’ma selective mute, so it’ll prolly be a while before anyone actually hears me talk_.

“Works for me. My name’s Beverly, by the way,” the other girl told her. “I’m not too sure how well being a selective mute’s gonna work out for ya here, though.”

_Well, neither am I, but there’s only one way to find out,_ Raven signed.

“Yeah, I guess that’s true,” she agreed.

_Before we_ can _find out, though, think ya can pass on a message to the guys for me?_

“I guess, yeah.” Beverly nodded.

_Let ’em know I’ma find a quiet spot outside for a bit,_ the young woman signed. _I need a few minutesta myself, or I’ma wind up showing a side of me that no one wantsta see_.

“Yeah, I can let them know for ya,” she told her, nodding again. “Anything else I need to know?”

_Just make sure nobody but Bobby and Big John touch my guitar case,_ Raven signed. _I don’t necessarily trust even_ them _with it, but I trust ’em more than anyone else besides maybe you_.

“Well, consider me flattered,” the other girl laughed.

_As well ya should be,_ she signed, unable to help another grin. _The bass that’s in it was the last thing my grandfather bought for me right before he died, so I don’t want it getting messed up by some catty bitch_.

“Oh, sweetheart.” Beverly grabbed her for a gentle hug. “My condolences for your loss, but yeah–I’ll do what I can to make sure no one messes with it.”

_Thanks, Bev_. The young woman shot her a smile. _If it’s not under the bed I claimed when I come back in, I’ma assume thatcha told the guys what I told you about it and let one of ’em put it in safe-keeping for me_.

“It’s certainly an idea, that’s for sure,” she chuckled. “Go on and get your head on straight, ’cuz the Insanity’s no doubt to ensue soon.”

_Thanks again_ – _and let the guys know that if I don’t answer right off the bat that I’m not trying to be disrespectful_.

Nodding once again, the other girl gently shooed her off and said she’d go track down one of the guys so she could pass on her message for her. They’d watched the man they were supposed to be competing for head upstairs, so she doubted she’d be finding him for a while. Considering all the crazy that’d no doubt been let into this house, it was a pretty sure bet that Big John’d still be downstairsta at least attempt corralling some of it for the man of the hour.

Assured that the other girl’d keep her word on both counts, Raven managed to sneak outta the house without anyone else noticing. Then again, most of the other girls were already doing shots like there was no tomorrow, and the ones who weren’t were apparently still settling in. Either way, their dumbass behavior didn’t affect her right now, and she also wasn’t gonna let it in the near Future.

Out front, she rounded the garage that was on the left as viewed from the front gate, where she found a small grassy patch that anyone else was unlikely to gravitate to. It was the perfect placeta quickly Ground and Center herself, which was something she knew she was gonna desperately need. Allowing herself to get too far off-kilter ’cuz of these other girls–Beverly included, unfortunately–was no doubt gonna End in Disaster for everybody. Either somebody was gonna wind up getting into a fight–most likely a physical altercation–or she was gonna let out the side of herself that’d garnered the name on her Birth Certificate.

Raven sighed as she kicked off her boots, then crouched down long enough to yank off her socks and stuff them into said boots. She made sure she was hidden from pretty much everyone’s view behind the bushes that were planted up against the Ivy-covered wall of the garage. With her bare feet planted in the grass at shoulder’s-width apart, she took a couple deep breathsta put her mind in the right place and simply allowed herself to feel. There was absolutely nothing and no one–not even Bobby–that could do anything to bring her back down to Earth till she was damn good and ready to be. Breaking her trance once she settled into one was absolutely impossible, if she didn’t want it to be broken, and she considered that one of her good qualities. At least she could be counted on to focus when need be, which’d certainly be a good thing for this wild man.

Eventually, the young woman felt more like herself than she’d felt since getting the call from MTV where she’d been told they were looking for girlsta audition for this Insanity. Apparently, she snapped herself outta her trance just in Time, too, ’cuz at the same moment she opened her eyes, Big John rounded the corner of the garage. It appeared that he was searching for her, so she wasn’t entirely sure that Beverly’d managed to find him and pass on her message. Maybe she hadn’t been able to find him in the crowd of girls that was already drinking, or maybe he’d gone upstairsta find Bobby. Either way, she couldn’t necessarily hold a failure against her this early in the game, ’cuz it might not’ve been the other girl’s fault.

“Ya all right, hon?” he asked.

Holding up a finger with one hand, she dug in her back pocket for the mini notebook and pen she’d stashed there.

The body guard cocked a brow at her, watching as she scribbled something before holding it out to him.

_I’m fine, Big John_ – _just needed a few minutesta clear my head before I do something stupid that I’ll End up regretting,_ she’d written.

“As long as you’re all right,” Big John sighed. “So, what gives with the note-writing? You’re gonna have to talk eventually.”

_I know that, and I will,_ the young woman wrote. _I’ma selective mute, so I don’t talk till I’m comfortable with somebody_ – _I tend to let Music do the talking for me_.

“Can’t really say that’s a bad quality,” he mused. “Got any other ways ya can Communicate–with Bobby or anyone else?”

_I can sign, but so far, I’ve found only one other girl who can,_ Raven wrote.

“Better add me to that list, too,” the body guard chuckled. “My mom’s a deaf-mute, so I’d to learn how pretty much as soon as I learned how to talk verbally.”

_Then Bobby may never get any one-on-one Time with me unless he wantsta read notes the whole Time,_ she signed, unable to help a grin as she did. _He’d need you or that other girl_ – _Beverly, she said her name was_ – _for translations_.

“As long as he’s not drunk or hungover, he won’t mind reading notes,” Big John assured her. “He’d rather read notes than feel like you’re being disrespectful, or not wanting to open up to him.”

_I’m not gonna be disrespectful_ – _to him or anyone else_ – _without being given reason to be,_ the young woman signed. _Now, not opening up_ – _eh, no promises there at first, ’cuz I can take a bit to warm up to folks, guys and girls alike_.

“Shy, or Trust issues?” he asked, his brow cocked curiously.

_Both, if I’ma start this off on the right foot by being honest,_ Raven admitted with a frustrated huff. _Too many folks from family and trusted friendsta exes I thought I could trust who proved me wrong Time and Time again, but I can also be more of a wallflower than a social Butterfly_.

Nodding as he made to escort her back into the house, the body guard told her that that may or may not be a problem for her. As a rock star, Bobby’d his highly extroverted side where he wanted to party nonstop, so she’d to be up for that kinda thing sooner or later. On the flip-side, he was also the most introverted of his band, so he didn’t always wanna go out and go crazy–there were Times he just wanted to chill at home, as it were, considering that sometimes a hotel room was the closest to home that he could get.

The young woman paused long enough to set her boots down so she’d both hands free, then started signing again. She made it clear that she wasn’t completely against having a good Time–it was a matter of how far one took things, and how they conducted themselves while doing so. After all, there was a big difference between having a few drinksta relax and unwind versus getting sloppy wasted and making a fool of oneself.

Big John couldn’t help a laugh as he picked her boots up for her, filing that away for a private chat with one of the men who was technically his boss. If this girl weren’t here to compete for said boss, he’d have definitely taken the risk of getting turned down by asking her out for himself. This was the kinda thing he felt _all_ of his bosses desperately needed–a girl with a good head on her shoulders that knew how to have a good Time, but could also put them on a bit of a leash. With that being said, maybe he _wouldn’t_ have tried asking this girl out, if there was a chance she could rein the bassist in a bit.

“Ah, I see thatcha found her,” Bobby chuckled as they walked back in together.

“Yeah, she just needed a few minutes like you–just for a different reason,” he told him with a chuckle of his own. “Before we get started, though, we need to have a word upstairs with ya.”

“Um, _oooo…kaaaay?”_ The poor guy looked like he was completely lost, but still nodded his agreement.

“Where ya goin’, hot stuff?” one of the bimbos called from the living room.

“Big John needs a word with me, so I’ll be back in a bit, ladies,” he promised. “Just wait down here, and try not to burn the house down, all right?”

Soft cheers answered him, and nobody but the body guard seemed to notice one girl shooting a reassuring smile as they took her upstairs with them.

As they rounded what was more of a Bridge that basically separated the foyer from the bigger of the formal living rooms, Raven wasn’t surprised that all but Beverly showed more than a lil jealous streak. Many of them screeched about her already getting alone Time with the man they were competing for, which technically wasn’t true at all. If she were getting _that_ so soon, his head of security wouldn’t have been with them–he’d have just brought her up here by himself, whether he told anyone else or not.

Once they were in what she’d consider a mini, private living room, Big John closed the double doors that separated the master suite from the rest of the house. Almost as soon as those doors clicked shut, the racket from downstairs practically fell Silent, as if somebody’d found the bimbos’ _Off_ switches. She couldn’t help heaving a sigh of relief as she settled on the couch that was gestured to by both men, who settled with her.

“So, what’s up, Big John?” Bobby asked, a curious look on his face.

“I wanted to give ya a heads-up that you’re gonna _have_ to be sober with this one, like it or not,” the body guard told him.

“Ya against drinking or something, sweetheart?” he asked, now looking confused and a bit offended.

The young woman was quick to shake her head and wave her hands in front of her in a gesture that was meant like she was wiping the slate clean, then pinned her eyes on his friend.

“Da fuq?” The bassist was completely confused as she started making all sortsa unfamiliar gestures that he understood about as well as he spoke Spanish.

“She says that she’s not against drinking at all–she’d be a liar, if she claimed that she hadn’t been everything from barely buzzed to flat-out wasted,” Big John chuckled, looking back to him.

He merely cocked a brow at him, still more confused than he wasn’t.

“Raven, as she told me to call her, is a selective mute,” the body guard explained. “She’s cool with writing notes till she’s comfortable actually talking, butcha gotta be sober so ya can read them, man.”

Bobby snorted as he laughed, then reached out to gently grab her hand when she looked offended. “I’m not laughing at _you,_ sweetheart–there’re Times when I feel like being mute, myself. I’m laughing at Big John saying I’ve to be sober to read your notes, ’cuz he knows I usually walk around at least buzzed.”

Taking her hand back, she looked back to his friend as she started gesturing again, and he finally realized she actually wasn’t gesturing–she was signing to him.

“She says that as long as you’re not constantly sloppy drunk, she can deal with that,” he told him. “Butcha start taking it to sloppy drunk all the Time, and she’ll leave before ya ever get the chanceta eliminate her.”

The bassist’s eyes widened, and the look on his face said it all–he’d that look of a man terrified of losing the woman he loved and feeling like his heart’d just been ripped out all rolled into one.

“And something else she told me when I was walking her back in–she tendsta let Music do a lotta talking for her, if she hasn’t reached that Comfort level to _actually_ talk,” Big John continued.

“Now that, I can work with,” he chuckled. “God knows I’ve that dirty lil habit, myself.”

Raven actually laughed, rather than just grinning at them, and if he said it was anything short of Music to his ears, he’d have been lying.

“Well, even if ya didn’t, I’d pay attention to whatever she’s listening to at any given Time,” the body guard told him. “It might say what’s on her mind better than signing or note-writing ever can.”

Nodding, Bobby gently tucked her hair behind her ear, Silently admiring her beautiful, Dark brown eyes as he told her that she didn’t necessarily _have_ to be verbal with him, if she wasn’t comfortable. And if he started doing something she didn’t like–especially as a result of being drunk–not to be afraid of slapping him a good one. There were Times that he honestly needed a drink dumped over his head and a slap to the faceta snap him outta whatever Fog of stupidity that alcohol’d make settle over his brain.

He was answered by that beautiful, musical laugh again as she nodded before turning her attention back to Big John. She signed something to him that made the big, burly man momentarily crack up before he looked at him with a grin of his own. Apparently, she’d told him that he might not wanna tell her something like that, ’cuz she wouldn’t just slap him–she’d deck him like she was one of his band mates.

The bassist winced at the Thought of getting decked that hard by a girl in general, but especially one that pretty much fit the bill for the type of girl he was usually attracted to. Petite–easily a foot shorter than himself, give or take–equally as Dark-toned from her hair to her eyes and skin tone, and definitely a bit on the exotic side when it came to her facial features. No matter her personality, he just couldn’t imagine a girl who fit that kinda bill being able to lay him out like they were of equal size, whether he was drunk or sober. But he shook off that Thought as he told her that if she felt the need to deck him, she may as well get Big John to do it for her so he wouldn’t have a knee-jerk reaction and hit her back.

Raven seemed to be agreeable to that as she nodded and held out her hand, clearly showing her agreement as she decided to shake on it. Bobby couldn’t help a chuckle as he accepted the handshake, then rose and helped her up like any gentleman would. He said that they should prolly get back downstairs before the rest of the girls started going ape-shit and accusing them of shit that hadn’t happened. It wouldn’t be the first Time he’d been accused of having a threesome, and since he was looking for far more than wild, drunken, Monkey sex, he didn’t feel like fending off those kinda accusations right now.

_Fair enough,_ the young woman signed, knowing Big John’d translate for her. _I’m insanely picky about my lovers, so I really don’t feel like putting up with that kinda bullshit and drama, either_.

Bobby didn’t even bother trying to bite back a laugh once her gestures were translated. “Well, part of my reason’s that my head hurts too bad to wanna move, so I definitely don’t wanna put up with _that_ on the very first Day.”

_I wouldn’t, either,_ she agreed. _And that’s something else that needs addressing on our way back downstairs, now that I think about it_.

“What is?” the body guard asked curiously.

_I’m extremely prone to migraines_ – _like, bad enough that there’re the occasional Times that I’ve to take a narcotic to get rid of one,_ Raven signed. _So, if I ever seem to disappear, it’s prolly ’cuz I’ve a migraine that I’m trying to get rid of_.

“Now, that’ll definitely be a problem, even if your being a selective mute isn’t,” the bassist said. “’Cuz you’re gonna have to participate in the challenges–I mean, not even the production crew can give ya credit for something thatcha didn’t do.”

_And I get that, which’s part of why I was on the fence about even agreeing to this,_ she signed, a miffed look settling over her face. _I’m just warning y’all that if I_ do _disappear, it’s not necessarily ’cuz I’m_ trying _to be rude_.

“I guess I can live with that,” he sighed. “I mean, at least you’re being open and honest about it right from the get-go, rather than trying to hide it and drop a bomb on us later, so to speak.”

Again, the absolutely gorgeous, musical laugh met his ears as they crossed that Bridge to head downstairs again, and Bobby couldn’t help the grin that split his face. He couldn’t help his urge to wrap an arm around her shoulders as they headed down that curved staircase, and she seemed happy enough to wrap her arm around his waist in Return. There was something deep inside that made him feel like a giddy teenager with his first crush again as he felt that, and he hoped that meant good things were on the horizon. Part of him felt ridiculously comfortable in this position with her, and he almost didn’t wanna bother getting to know any of the other girls who were here to compete for him.

Since he knew he still had to, he paused at the bottom of the stairs long enough to tell her not to be afraid to come to him, if she’d a problem or otherwise needed anything. If that meant getting Big John to pull him away from any of the other girls, he wanted her to just go ahead and do it. There was nothing more important to him than making sure _everybody_ was safe in every way possible, and if that meant having a private word with him, so be it.

Nodding, Raven signed something else that the body guard was quick to translate, which turned out to be that she Intended to grab something from her room and head out back. He was definitely curious, but he really did have an obligation to mingle with the other nineteen girls, so he simply nodded and promised to catch up with her later. From there, the three of them parted ways so the young woman could head to the bedroom she’d claimed alongside three of the other girls. The guys headed into the bigger formal living room, where he was almost immediately swarmed by girls that were at least half-drunk already.

Fending off the girls who got in his face a lil too much so he could breathe, Bobby basically begged the girlsta take turns. Even if it was in groups of three or four at a Time, they’d all get to spend some Time with him, but he couldn’t handle too many all at once. Luckily, they seemed agreeable to that, even though they were obviously jealous of the young woman he and Big John’d taken upstairs just a short while ago.


	4. Three

_May, 1994_

By the End of the first month, everybody’d started to get to know each other a lil better, and various personalities really started to show. Some of the girls proved to be complete two-faced bitches, ’cuz they’d act one way when Bobby and Big John were around, but a completely different way when they weren’t. Other girls seemed more like they were there for the never-Ending party, which left the poor bassist shit-faced and hungover the entirety of the next Day more often than not. But there were a lotta really fun challenges that they all dove into with everything in them, the results almost always amusing.

The first of those challenges that turned out to be quite the riot was the phone sex challenge that they opened up with. All the girls’d to prove that they could let a phone call with Bobby while he was on the road take a dirty turn that both parties’d enjoy immensely. What surprised even Beverly was that it wasn’t any of the sexy, slutty girls who’d won that one–it’d been Raven who was essentially Crowned the Phone Sex Queen.

After managing to shake off his surprise at finally hearing said young woman’s voice–albeit in a bit of a distorted way since it was over the phone–the bassist’d taken her out on a solo date. Those who’d placed second and third had gotten a joint date the following Day, and they’d made no bones about being jealous as hell the whole Time they’d been waiting for their turn. But it was during that date that he found out something surprising about the young woman who’d caught his eye so strongly. It turned out that her eyes weren’t really the deep brown that all but mirrored his own like he’d thought they were. When she’d finally looked up at him instead of down at her feet, he’d seen eyes the same Color as a patch of Lavender from someone’s Garden.

Ever since then, Bobby’d managed to learn a lot about the girls, who were slowly dropping like flies when it came to every elimination. He was starting to see a lotta them for the bitches and party girls that they really were, and there were others who really caught his attention. The Lavender-eyed young woman he now knew wore contactsta hide her eye Color–which she apparently got teased about a lot–was one of those girls. In fact, she was the only one that he actually felt saddened when they’d to part ways after a date that she’d won fair and square. Said dates were the only Times he actually got her to be verbal, rather than signing or writing notes, and he honestly loved her voice. It was nothing short of mesmerizing to him, but he was about to find out that her voice could go to levels he’d never’ve expected and then some.

“All right, ladies–listen up!” Big John called out.

By this point, they were down to fourteen girls, so things weren’t quite as heated as they were no doubt gonna get before this was all said and done.

“Here’s your note for today, so I’ma leave ya to it,” the body guard said, handing what almost looked like a restaurant menu to Beverly. He’d have handed it to Raven, but she was still mute around everybody except himself and his boss, so he knew she wouldn’t actually read it aloud.

_“Good Morn, ladies,”_ Beverly read, unable to help a grin. _“Get ready to put your money where your mouths are_ – _Music’s my heart, Soul, and World, so your skills with words’ve to be up to par.”_

All the girls looks either curious or confused, and which expression they wore depended on the girl in question.

_“Today, you’ve to make my heart sing and sprout wings_ – _but as always, there’s a catch,”_ she continued, her eyes widening as she apparently read ahead of herself. _“At the End of the Day, I’m still just a guy, so I love more than just Music, sports, and Apple pie.”_

“What on Earth?” one of the girls who was a notorious stripper asked.

_“You’re gonna be writing a song that doesn’t just show your Creativity, but also gets in my head and turns me on,”_ the brunette read, having to pause so she could laugh. _“Make a good impression, and we’ll see how long things last_ – _but beware that elimination comes tomorrow Night, so if ya don’t, your Time here may be a thing of the Past.”_

“Oh, fuck me,” several of the girls groaned.

“I suck at writing pretty much anything but a diary entry,” one girl, whose name was Jessica, all but whimpered.

Raven rolled her eyes as she signed, knowing only the girl who’d been reading’d understand her right now.

“What the hell’d she say this Time?” the stripper–Heather–asked, her brow cocked.

“She said that songwriting’s basically just writing poetry,” Beverly translated. “If you’re any good at that, you’ll do fine.”

“You’re kidding me, right?”

The young woman’s eyes–which appeared Dark brown due to her contacts–narrowed as she started signing again, her annoyance obvious in her movements.

“She says that songwriting’s just poetry that tells a story in a shorter period of Time than a novel,” she answered as Big John walked in again.

“I’m assuming that Raven signed that, and you’re just translating again,” he mused. “But even if that’s not the case, she’s definitely right, ladies, so get to work–you’ve only got an hour.”

All the girls _really_ started freakin’ out as they darted off to their rooms so they could grab shit like notebooks and pens. Heaving a sigh as she pushed herself up, Raven gently kicked the body guard’s calf to get his attention before he could get too far away, Beverly cocking a brow curiously. Turning to face her, he simply cocked a brow as she started signing, knowing the other girl was gearing up to translate for him. Once she’d lowered her armsta signify that she was done for the moment, he simply held up a hand when the other brunette took a breath.

“I know how to sign, too, so ya don’t need to translate for me,” he chuckled. “Go get to work before ya run outta Time.”

“All righty, then,” she said, nodding as she headed off to the bedroom she shared with this young woman and the other pair who’d claimed it alongside them.

Once she was outta earshot, Big John turned his gaze back to said young woman. “And you’re sure ya don’t really need Time to work on it?”

_All I need’s a guitar and amp so I can run through it a few more Times,_ she signed, that musical laugh bubbling up from her throat.

“Lemme run upstairs so I can bust into Bobby’s gear for ya,” the body guard told her. “Just wait out back or something, ’cuz it’ll prolly take me a few minutesta convince him to let anyone else touch said gear.”

_Or maybe not, considering how much he obviously likes me,_ Raven sighed with a snicker.

“Eh, six on one, half a dozen on the other,” he chuckled. “He might like ya–prolly more than he should for just a month in–but that doesn’t necessarily mean he trusts ya with his gear.”

_Score’s even, then, ’cuz I doubt he even knows about my bass, and I damn sure wouldn’t let him touch it yet,_ the young woman signed. _Nothing against him personally, but I don’t let just anyone touch it since it was the last thing my grandfather ever bought for me before he died_.

Giving her a quick her, Big John offered his condolences before turning to head up to the master suite, where his friend-slash-boss was hiding so he could get ready for the Day. Luckily, he hadn’t allowed himself to get absolutely shit-faced the Night previous, so he wasn’t so hungover that he wouldn’t be able to stand some moderately loud Music. He still felt the effects of what they were calling the _liquor shits,_ which was part of the reason why it always took him a couple hoursta get in gear for the Day, though.

Since all the other girls were hiding in their roomsta even write their lyrics, Raven headed for the family room that was adjacent to the kitchen. Normally, she’d have headed out to the patio that it opened up to, but if the body guard could manage to nab a guitar and amp for her, she didn’t want them to get ruined. They weren’t her gear, after all, and she doubted Bobby’d be very happy if his guitar was so much as outta tune, let alone starting to warp from being taken outside when it shouldn’t have been. Were it her own gear, she wouldn’t have cared quite as much, but she couldn’t have that attitude with anyone else’s, if she’d tried.

It wasn’t long before both men were calling out for her, which made her pull out one of the books that was laying on the shelf of the coffee table. The young woman simply let it drop onto the hardwood at her feet, knowing it’d make a loud enough _thump!_ for them to hear in the foyer. From there, they’d be able to track her down, even if she’d to drop it another Time or two so it’d act as an auditory beacon.

“Ah, there ya are,” Big John chuckled. He carried a small practice amp in one hand, the other free.

“So, what’re ya wanting to borrow my gear for?” the bassist asked curiously, following behind with the requested guitar.

_Already got a song written that I can use for today’s challenge,_ she signed once his friend had a clear view of her. _I just need to run through it since it’s been a while since I played lead, rather than bass_.

“Oh, really?” Now she really had his attention.

_“Mmm hmm,”_ Raven hummed, nodding as she took the guitar he finally handed over.

“Well, let’s see just how goodja really are, girl,” Bobby chuckled. “’Cuz now, you’ve my Curiosity piqued.”

_“Mmm mmm.”_ This Time, the young woman shook her head as she got everything plugged in, careful to lay the guitar flat on the couch while she was plugging in the amp like a true musician would.

“Ya know the rules, Bobby,” the body guard laughed. “Back upstairs with ya while the girls’re all working.”

“Aw, c’mon,” he said, his whine ruined by the laugh he couldn’t bite back.

“You’ll hear it once she takes her turn for the challenge since she’s apparently working alone,” Big John told him.

“Ugh, you’re such a buzzkill, man,” the bassist chuckled.

“Part of my job description, ya lovable ass,” he retorted. “Somebody’s to keep everyone in line.”

All that answered him were two middle fingers as Bobby walked off, no doubt heading back up to the damn near soundproof master suite where he wouldn’t really be able to hear her playing.

“You’ve about forty-five minutes left now, but something tells me ya won’t need that entire Time to practice a bit,” the body guard said once he was gone.

_Not really, ’cuz I still remember my own chord progressions_ – _it’s just a matter of playing ’em at the right tempo,_ Raven signed.

“Then I’ma leave ya to it,” Big John told her. “Have fun, and good Luck.”

Nodding, she made sure the guitar she held was tuned the way she needed it, considering the key she’d written this song in. She knew damn good and well Bobby’d be surprised when he heard it, ’cuz while she could pull off an octave higher than Bret Michaels and then some, she still tended to sing in the same key that he did. It was just the range that her voice was built for Naturally, and there was no real way to Change that short of smoking or something, and she wasn’t going back there again.

* * *

“Time’s up, ladies!”

Raven’d long since grown bored with practicing the song she’d written a few months ago to tease a friend who’d the hots for her. After five, maybe ten minutes of running through it, she was able to do so at full speed without a single fuck-up, which was her goal. Once she’d managed that, she’d just monkeyed around with a few well-known Poison songsta pass the Time before she wound up in trouble.

Hauling the borrowed guitar and amp into the bigger of the formal living rooms, she just let the other girls think they were hers. After all, for all they knew, she lived in the area and had just run home to grab her own gear ’cuz she was more comfortable with that than asking to borrow Bobby’s. Regardless, she knew she was gonna be subjected to some seriously bad songs, ’cuz the only one who’d even tried to claim they were a musician was a redhead named Lacey that she swore was psychotic and off her meds. From the looks of it, though, said redhead was in total agreement with her, but wasn’t about to say so aloud to avoid trouble.

The poor bassist seemed like he wanted to run away screaming through the songs done by six groups of two. He looked like he was fighting his urge to cut most of the girls off, if only ’cuz of their horrid screeching and obvious tone-deafness. Waving Lacey up to the dining room–which served as a makeshift stage since both living rooms and the family room were sunken–it seemed like he honestly didn’t wanna give her a chance so he could save his poor ears.

She didn’t do nearly as bad as many of the others, but it was still pretty obvious that she wasn’t likely to be the winner of this challenge. Bobby begged for a break before he let the last one–Raven–take her turn, saying that he needed a smoke before he went insane and made a bad judgment from only being able to hear his vice screaming at him. Big John seemed like he didn’t wanna let him since there was only the one girl left, but at the same Time, he obviously knew his friend and bossman well. If he didn’t let him have a few moments like he’d asked, there was no telling how he’d react, whether the song she’d written was good or bad. Besides, letting him take a smoke break let her get herself set up so she could actually take her turn in the challenge.

_When I step on your toes, hit the_ Play _button for me,_ the young woman signed before handing the stereo remote to Big John.

“Got the rest of the parts recorded or something?” he asked curiously as he took it.

_Right down to drums, believe it or not,_ Raven signed with a grin. _Hearing the rhythm parts’ll help keep me on track, so why not use what I’ve got to my advantage?_

“I could say no since it could be construed as cheating,” the body guard chuckled.

_Doesn’t really matter to me, then_. She simply shrugged nonchalantly. _But I’ve the feeling he’ll wanna hear the whole song, anywhore_.

“All right, all right,” Big John laughed, his boss walking back in from his smoke break.

“We ready now?” he asked, reclaiming his previous seat.

“Whenever you are, boss,” he answered, nodding.

“Then let’s get to it,” the bassist chuckled. “Show us whatcha got, Raven.”

Smirking as she stepped up to the mic she’d set up, she let out a teasing, almost sadistic laugh before stepping on the burly man’s toes.

Taking his cue like they’d agreed on, Big John hit the _Play_ button on the remote he held at the same Time that she ripped into what was obviously a lead guitar riff. In addition to what he heard coming outta his amp, he also heard what was clearly someone tapping on the cymbals of a drum kit. Fifteen seconds into the song, a bass riff kicked in all of half a second before the young woman turned enough that the mic’d catch her voice, but she could still see her fret board, too.

_“There you lay, all by yourself, so please allow me to introduce myself… I welcome you to the House of Sin_ – _open your mind, let the games Begin!”_ Raven sang.

The bassist’s eyes widened, and not at the pelvic thrust she gave to emphasize the grunt she let out immediately afterward.

_“I’m your Lust, and I’m your Greed_ – _I’m every sick Thought that you ever done Dreamed! Here’s your cake, andja want some more_ –mmm, _where’ve I heard that before? Ha…”_

Bobby couldn’t say he wasn’t shocked by just how beautiful a voice she had, nor how the lyrics were definitely starting to get into his head, and it seemed the rest of the girls were just as surprised.

_“I am your…I am your… I’m just your sexual thing! I am your…I am your… I’m just your sexual_ – _ain’t nothin’ but a sexual_ – _It’s just a sexual thing!”_

The young woman paused, backing vocals apparently joining her from the CD she’d obviously gotten Big John to play for her since she’d wanted to perform the whole song.

_“Lyin’ there, you look so horny_ – _talk is cheap, and it’s startin’ to bore me…”_ she continued, the second half of the lyric repeated by the CD. _“Ya hold me close, and tell me it feels so good, heh_ – _but damn, boy, ya knew it would…”_

Even the rest of the girls’ jaws were dropped as she ripped into the chorus again, but they were definitely gonna be surprised by what they heard next. The solo she ripped into after repeating the chorus was almost like what CC DeVille and Richie Kotzen’d write thrown into a blender. It was right up there with Richie’s style, given how complicated it seemed, but it was just as wild and crazy as any solo CC’d ever written was. All the same, it was impressive either way, and the bassist couldn’t say that he wasn’t a bit sad when it wound down for her to dive into the third verse.

_“Glad to’ve met you, so pleased that you’ve cum_ – _but I must be movin’ on, my work here is done,”_ Raven sang, more than a bit of a sultry tone to her voice. _“Best believe me you, child, the pleasure’s been all mine_ – _if you’re in need, please do, indeed call me anytime!”_

Big John was even starting to look a bit hot and bothered by the raunchy lyrics, but was clearly doing a better job of fighting and hiding it than his boss was as she ripped through the chorus again.

_“They’ve got you medicated_ – _it’s got you so frustrated! She caught you masturbatin’_ – _you’d rather be fornicatin’! Well, then, you come with me_ – _I’m gonna set you free! It’s just a sexual_ – _ain’t nothin’ but a sexual_ – _It’s just a sexual thing!”_

Bobby couldn’t help squirming in his seat as those same backing vocals from after the first chorus played again while she was covering half the outro, which included another one of those teasing, sadistic laughs. He’d be lying, if he said he wasn’t impressed and that this song hadn’t done exactly what he’d told the girlsta do in his note that Morn. Course, there was no way the body guard wouldn’t have called him out on it, if he’d tried to lie about it, and he knew it.

_“What you’ve witnessed is a sexual Fantasy_ – _please do not try these tricks…at home,”_ she said immediately after muting her strings, which was the same moment the CD track in the background Ended.

It took a few moments for everyone to process what they’d just heard, but a loud round of applause was relatively quick to follow her performance. All the other girls–even Lacey–knew without having to ask that she was about to be Crowned the winner of this particular challenge. There was no way she wouldn’t be, considering how awesome and raunchy her song was compared to everybody else’s, but now that left him with a question that he desperately wanted an answer to. Granted, he’d to wait till all the applause died down so she’d actually hear him–not to mention so that the mics they were all wearing on their collars and/or bra straps’d pick up what he asked, too.

“All right, ladies–I think it’s pretty obvious who our winner is,” the bassist chuckled.

“Sadly, I think we’d all have to be idiotsta even bother asking,” Lacey drawled, several girls nodding their agreement.

“Now, I gotta ask, sweetheart.” Bobby turned a curious, but serious look on her. “Didja write this song specifically _for_ this show, or was it just something random thatcha did, and it happened to fit in with today’s challenge?”

Letting the guitar hang from her shoulder, Raven’s face turned pink as she started signing at what seemed to be twice the speed of Light.

“She says that she wrote it to tease a friend who swore he kept having dirty Dreams about her,” Big John chuckled.

Beverly nodded her agreement when he looked to her for confirmation, now that he knew she could also sign like a pro.

“That so, huh?” he asked with a chuckle of his own.

The young woman’s arms flew again, and he found it amusing that she still refused to talk, even though they’d all just heard her voice.

“She says that her friend’s a bit of an assta her sometimes, so she wrote the song to tease him as a way of getting him back,” the body guard laughed. “When ya issued a challenge of getting in your head and turning ya on with a song–well, she just couldn’t resist the Temptation.”

“Well, I can safely say she did just that,” Bobby laughed. “’Cuz I’ma have to sit here for a few minutes before I can even _think_ of going to grab the cold shower I now need!”

Her face went from mildly pink to a deep red, which just made him laugh even harder when the rest of the girls joined him. She was definitely no shrinking violet when it came to the World of sex–winning the phone sex challenge a couple weeks ago proved that much to him. But it was still cute how she could get embarrassed over something so Natural and primal, which she was obviously _very_ good at.

With his winner of a solo date with him that Night officially picked, the bassist managed to Will down the boner he’d popped enough to finally get up. He’d always been a very well-endowed man, though, so even when he was only half-hard, being clothed left lil to the Imagination. On that note since tonight was gonna be torturous enough for him, he headed off to the master suite so he could grab that cold shower. He already knew that she wasn’t gonna so much as kiss him, so trying to go to even third base–let alone for a home run–was just gonna leave him frustrated and pissy without it.

Raven was still blushing furiously as she started cleaning up the borrowed gear, which she quickly turned over to Big John. Signing her thanks for talking his boss into letting her borrow it, she headed off to the bedroom she shared with those other three girls. Even though she wouldn’t admit it–whether aloud or by signing–performing that particular song’d left her more than a lil needy in her own right. If she didn’t grab a cold shower of her own, she was likely to make an idiot of herself on her date tonight, which she didn’t wanna do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All credit for the lyrics used in this chapter go to Poison. The song's _Sexual Thing_ from what became their 2000 album, _Crack a Smile...and More!,_ but it just happened to fit in with the Direction I wanted the chapter to go in. I've also got plans for it later in the story, considering the Timeline I'm using, but you'll just have to wait and see what I mean by that... *grins*  
> ~Firefly


	5. Four

“I can’t even Begin to put into words how much fun I had tonight–and I think it’s pretty obvious that we’re both damn good with words.”

Raven couldn’t help a laugh as she and Bobby climbed outta the limo that’d taken them to a relatively fancy Italian restaurant for the date she’d won during the songwriting challenge. Like a true gentleman, he helped her out so she wouldn’t fall, then kept her hand pressed into his elbow as they took their Time getting up to the front door. Both knew this was where they’d part ways for the Night, and not ’cuz either of them truly wanted to, but rather for the sake of getting sleep. Well, that was _if_ Beverly and the other twelve remaining bimbos’d let him head on upstairs, considering he was obviously looking tired and had actually told her that he wasn’t feeling so good during their date.

“Can’t say I disagree on either of those counts,” she told him, glad they were taking their Time with getting into the house so she could actually talk to him. “Ya _sure_ you’re all right, though? I know ya said your stomach was bothering ya, butcha seem like it’s gotten worse since we left.”

“Prolly just need to cut back on the partying here in the house,” the bassist admitted. “It happens sometimes when I take it too far, too often.”

Raven didn’t look like she believed him in the slightest, but didn’t try to push the issue since she’d already figured out that he was just as stubborn as her pappaw–whom she’d gotten her own stubbornness from.

“I’ll let Big John know to keep an eye and ear out for me, if it makes ya feel any better,” he swore, giving her a reassuring smile.

“Well, I know he’d do that, anywhore,” the young woman said. “I just can’t help that I worry prolly more than I should when I care about someone.”

“God, where the fuck were ya when I met my ex-wife?” Bobby asked with a chuckle. “Maybe I coulda avoided this whole mess, if I’d met _you_ first.”

“Maybe, maybe not–the only things guaranteed in Life’re taxes and Death,” she answered with a chuckle of her own.

The bassist couldn’t help a slightly harder laugh, although he obviously took care not to laugh _too_ hard since it made his stomach hurt worse. Even still, he managed to lean down so he could kiss her temple before opening the front door of the house so they could head inside. It was that particular action that left her putting herself between him and the rest of the girls, Big John cocking a brow as she started signing furiously since she still wouldn’t talk in front of anyone else.

Once it was explained that poor Bobby really–and she meant _really_ –needed to go get some rest so he’d actually feel up to taking Lacey and today’s third-place winner on their date the next Day, the girls all dispersed, even though they clearly weren’t happy about it. She managed to nab the body guard’s attention long enough to sign that she thought something was seriously wrong with his friend, but he was being too macho about it for his own good. That was one of the good things about both of them knowing how to sign, though–she could tell him shit that she didn’t want his friend knowing as easily as if they started using another language verbally. And she knew the bassist wouldn’t want him worrying overmuch since she already was, nor would he appreciate her somewhat talking shit about him.

Nodding, said body guard made to help him upstairs so he could head off to bed, swearing he’d keep an eye and ear out for him over the course of the Night. He said it was most likely that he’d given himself the _liquor shits_ a few too many Days in a row, and if that wasn’t the source of his stomach ache, it was prolly just from eating something that didn’t quite agree with him. Either way, he didn’t think there was really anything to worry about as he helped him upstairs, but knew she’d a point in it being a good idea that somebody be with him, if he _did_ turn out to need any help.

Raven bit her lip as she headed off to her room so she could shower and change for bed, forcing a certain Thought deep into the back of her mind. She didn’t wanna admit that–much like her namesake–she was a bit of a prophet or psychic, if one would since she hadn’t already done so. But that did absolutely nothing to help her shake the feeling that something really bad was gonna happen later in the Night, and that the bassist was gonna be right smack in the middle of whatever _it_ was. Part of the reason she kept her mouth shut about that was ’cuz she didn’t know _what_ was gonna happen, just that _something_ was. Another reason was that Thoughts were Energy the same way that words were, and she didn’t wanna feed any negativity floating around.

If she’d known what she was gonna be in for come the Witching Hour, she’d have gladly ’fessed up so they could go ahead and get help for Bobby before anything _could_ happen to him.

* * *

Right at the start of the Witching Hour, three in the Morn on the dot, the Mysterious young woman awoke for no apparent reason. It wasn’t that odd of an occurrence for her–part of being an Empath was often waking between three and five in the Morn for what seemed like no reason, usually accompanied by the feeling of being watched by unseen eyes. Knowing it’d be a while before she got back to sleep, if she ever did at all before the Sun rose, she kicked her covers off so she could get up.

Heading down the front hall that led from the foyer to the bedroom she, Beverly, and two other girls’d claimed, she managed to muffle even the softest of yawns. The entire house was as Silent as a tomb aside from the soft Sound of the AC blowing cool Air through the ductwork. It was a bit freaky to those who weren’t used to being up at this Time of Night, but it was just another everyday Sound for her.

Outside the powder room door, Raven paused when she heard something that she _wasn’t_ accustomed to hearing, even at this Time of Night. It took a few moments, but she quickly heard the Sound again–and it sounded like whoever was in the powder room was in some serious pain. Not only that, but the voice sounded decidedly masculine, which kicked her pulse into overdrive as she raised her hand to knock on the door. She knew that none of the production crew used this bathroom, which meant it could only be Bobby or Big John–and considering the End to their date, she got the bad feeling that it was the former of that pair.

“Bobby–ya all right in there?” She was careful to keep her voice down to avoid waking anyone else unnecessarily.

“F-Fuck m-me.” Now it _really_ sounded like the bassist was in quite a bit of pain, which sent her heart into the pit of her stomach before it skyrocketed back into her throat.

“Bobby, open the door,” Raven told him.

“C-Can’t–h-hurts too m-much to m-move,” he whimpered, clearly biting back a sob seconds later.

Biting back an irritated and worried Curse, the young woman headed for the kitchen since she was so adept at picking locks, she could use just about anything–including a knife.

“G-God d-damn it,” Bobby sobbed, his words a bit muffled not just from the door, but from him apparently covering his mouth or biting something.

Putting her skillsta use, she got the lock picked with a steak knife in record Time, Light flooding the hall that ran from the foyer to the kitchen as she opened the door. All she could see when she first walked in was a pair of decidedly masculine legs, considering there was a lil alcove with an archway that housed the toilet in here. That and finding the bassist settled on said toilet once she’d closed the door behind her and walked in further wasn’t a surpriseta her–it was the agonized look on his Beet-red face that was.

“Bobby, ya gotta tell me what’s wrong,” Raven said as she knelt down in front of him, biting back her Terror as she took note that he was sweaty, likely from the pain he was obviously in.

“M-My s-stomach,” the bassist whimpered. “And m-my a-ass.”

She couldn’t help the confused look on her face as she managed to make him look at her.

“Feels like c-constipation, but f-five T-Times worse,” Bobby managed to grind out.

“Let’s getcha up from there,” the young woman said, somehow managing to get the words out in a Soothing tone that didn’t convey _any_ of the Terror she felt. “Ya mighta just torn something that’ll Heal on its own, but I gotta take a look to be sure.”

His face somehow managed to turn even redder, no doubt from embarrassment at the Thought of her doing such a thing.

“Bobby, I work as a nursing assistant–I get paid to wipe peoples’ asses when they can’t do so on their own,” Raven chuckled. “This won’t be the first Time I’ve seen a bare ass that needs some cleaning up.”

“I-I dunno if th-that makes me f-feel b-better, or w-worse,” the bassist said.

“Well, considering that I don’t have a gait belt right now, we’re gonna have to getcha up from there a different way,” she told him. “Slow and steady, and you’re gonna push down on my shoulders so you’ve something for balance since I’m already kneeling in front of ya, all right?”

“Wh-What other ch-choices do I h-have?” Bobby grumbled, wincing as he tried to move. “Fuck!”

“Hey, hey–focus on me, hon,” the young woman told him.

“F-Fuckin’ h-hurts,” he whimpered, yelping as he managed to push himself to his feet.

Using the utmost caution, Raven managed to turn so she could walk backwards on her knees, her hands locking on his hips to help keep him upright. He still cried out in pain as he slowly followed her, shuffling through the archway to the main part of the powder room where the sink was. Once they were in front of the counter, which she encouraged him to grab so he still had something to help him balance and stay on his feet, she managed to move behind him so she could examine him.

A startled gasp rang out almost as soon as she’d moved behind him, really even before she’d touched him to spread his ass cheeks a lil wider. She’d only seen this once–when she was working her rotation in the ED during the Beginning of her medical career, which’d made her decide on simply being a nursing assistant, rather than a full-blown nurse. This particular problem was far outside her expertise, and it was definitely an emergency–if he wasn’t taken to the hospital soon, he could wind up suffering a humiliation no human being wanted to, if not dead. Neither of those things’d be a good thing, as far as she was concerned, which was what quickly made her scoot to her previous position beside him and rise.

“Wh-What’s wrong w-with me?” the bassist asked, sounding as terrified as he looked on top of his pain.

“You’re going to the hospital–no ifs, ands, or buts about it,” she told him. “This is far outside my expertise, or I’d fix ya up right here.”

“What?” Bobby’s eyes widened.

“Let’s just say ya gave a whole new meaning to the phrase _shit your guts out,”_ the young woman told him.

“Y-You’re fuckin’ sh-shitting me,” he ground out.

“I fuckin’ Wish, hon,” Raven said, shaking her head. “Best to let the ER team try to correct the problem, or a specialist take ya into surgery to do it.”

She didn’t miss how the bassist paled at the mere Thought of going under the knife.

“Look, your choices’re possible surgery, if your rectum needsta be sutured back to your pelvic wall, or Death,” she said. “’Cuz if it _stays_ outside your body, it’s eventually gonna dry out and die. If that doesn’t happen, the blood flow’s gonna get cut off, which’ll cause the tissue to die, too.”

Bobby looked horrified. “B-But how’s that g-gonna kill m-me entirely?”

“’Cuz the dead tissue can cause septic shock,” the young woman explained. “Basically, you’ll wind up with a systemic infection so bad, your blood’ll pretty much be straight poison.”

He somehow managed to pale even more when she told him that.

“I know ya don’t wanna, but look at it this way–if ya _do_ wind up needing surgery, wouldja rather that and get to see Zak again, or refuse and leave him fatherless ’cuz somebody’s to putcha in your grave?” Raven asked. She hated having to use his son against him like that, but something told her that’d prolly be one of the only thingsta get through his hard head right now.

“Go call an ambulance, for God’s sake, if those’re the choices I’m stuck with,” the bassist whimpered. “And I swear, I’ll never drink again, if this is what it’s gonna lead to!”

Gently rubbing his back, she promised him that she’d be back as soon as she could, and most likely with Big John. No doubt it’d take the burly former Marine to get him outta the powder room so he could even be put on a stretcher, ’cuz this room was simply too small for more than two people to be in it at once. If he wasta fall due to his knees buckling, she wanted someone who wouldn’t drop him to be the one helping him.

Taking care to lock the door behind her so no one else’d walk in on him since she could just pick the lock again, the young woman darted down the hall to the kitchen. For some reason, the only telephone on the first story lived on the lil built-in desk directly across from the breakfast nook, which was more of an eat-in dining room than it wasn’t. Either way, it was the closest one with which to make any phone call, but especially one to EMS so she could get help for him. Luckily, she was quick on her feet and still able to bite back her Terror since she cared about this man a great deal as she punched in three numbers everybody knew.

After explaining the problem in as few words as possible, Raven made the request that the ambulance _not_ have their sirens on once they entered the neighborhood. Not only did she not want the neighbors woken up, but she didn’t want the rest of the girls in _this_ house woken up, either. They’d do nothing be get in the way and likely cause the bassist to freak out more than he needed to with a ton of screaming and shrieking. He needed to keep his vitals as stable as possible, not be freakin’ out, hence her wanting to avoid that scenario.

Once she’d Ended the phone call, she darted back through the hall to the foyer, where she mounted the curved stairs two at a Time. She’d absolutely no doubt that the master suite doors were unlocked since Bobby was downstairs, which’d mean she could keep this under wraps more by _not_ having to pound on them to wake his friend. Part of her felt bad about having to invade their private Space like this since one of the ground rules for the show was that no one do such a thing, but she knew she _had_ to. It was likely that Big John was one of his Powers of Attorney, and if he wasn’t, he’d know how to get in touch with whoever _was_. That was another reason she’d decided it was a better idea to wake him up, whether he liked it or not, and get his help.

“What the–” the burly man snorted as she shook him furiously.

“Get up!” Raven hissed, managing to dodge when he swung blindly as he bolted upright.

“What–Raven, what’ve we told all of ya girls about _not_ coming in here?” he asked. “And how the fuck _didja_ get in here?”

“Door was unlocked since Bobby’s downstairs,” the young woman answered. “Now, get at least some PJ britches on and get down there–we’re gonna needja once EMS gets here.”

“Da fuq’s going on?” Big John asked, now startled into a more alert frame of mind.

“He didn’t just give himself the _liquor shits,_ or eat something bad,” she answered. “He quite literally shit his guts out.”

The body guard was on his feet in half a second, clearly uncaring of being totally nude as he snatched up his PJ britches and started stepping into them. “Where’s he at?”

“Powder room downstairs,” Raven answered. “I’m guessing he went down for a glass of Water or something, and the need to go hit so suddenly, he just ducked into the closest bathroom.”

“So, what on Earth’re _you_ doing up at this Time of Night?” he asked as they started back downstairs together.

“I’m what’s called an Empath–think an Energetic kitchen sponge till I can explain it more in-depth,” the young woman answered. “It ain’t that unusual for me to wake up between three and five in the Morn for no apparent reason, especially when I go to bed with a bad feeling to start with.”

As they pretty much jogged back down the stairs, she explained that when she’d woken up and known she wasn’t getting back to sleep for a while, she’d headed to the kitchen for her own glass of Water. However, she hadn’t even made it to the kitchen before she’d heard a muffled sob, which suggested someone was in excruciating pain. Considering that she’d heard a masculine voice, she’d innately known that the only ones she coulda heard were him or Bobby, and given how he’d been feeling earlier, it was most likely Bobby.

Upon arriving at the powder room door, Raven reached into the linen cabinet right outside it and pulled out the steak knife she’d used to pick the lock the first Time. They could both hear his muffled sobs through the door, which was a clear sign that his pain wasn’t getting any better. At least she was so adept at lock-picking that she’d the door open again in less than a minute, which allowed her to open it again.

Big John was quick to enter the tiny bathroom and pull him upright so they faced each other, his arms wrapping around his chest to support him. The bassist laid his head on his friend’s shoulder and buried his face against his throat, which muffled his sobs as he wrapped his own arms around the burly man’s waist. Now assured that he wasn’t gonna fall, the young woman high-tailed it out front so she could open the bigger of the two gates. After all, somebody’d to let the ambulance in when it finally arrived, or he’d never get the treatment he so desperately needed.

“This is where the call about a rectal prolapse came from, right?” the EMT driving asked once she’d flagged them down and they’d pulled over.

“Yeah, the patient’s waiting in the house with a friend of his,” Raven answered. “How well can ya back that thing in?”

“It’ll be like backing into a bay at the hospital,” he chuckled. “Maybe a _bit_ tighter of a squeeze till I get through the gate.”

“Then I’d go that route to make loading him up and getting back outta here easier,” the young woman told him. “But that’s just my personal opinion.”

Nodding, he let his partner out to help guide him through the double gate so he wouldn’t take out either of the concrete pillars that anchored it into the ground. While they were getting the ambulance backed into the driveway, she headed back into the house so she could help however possible. Something told her it was gonna be up to mostly Big John to get the bassist outta the powder room, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t help once he was outta that tiny room.

By the Time the EMTs dragged their stretcher into the foyer, the body guard was waddling backwards as he kept his friend on his feet. Raven was now behind him, holding a towel closed around his waist to protect his privacy, just in case any of the other girls were early risers or otherwise got up for something. Luckily, no one else seemed to be awake, so he was saved at least a lil humiliation as his friend moved so he was now standing beside him. That opened up his chest so the EMTs could get him on a monitor, which allowed them to check his vitals, not to mention freed up an arm for a blood pressure cuff. He clearly wasn’t happy about any of this, and his pain was only making him crankier, but at least these guys were gentle with him.

Once he was face-down on the stretcher to avoid putting too much pressure on the exposed tissue, one EMT worked on starting an IV while the other worked on getting him strapped down. It was only once that IV’d been started that they gave him anything to help with the pain, which made him sigh heavily. Whether it was just Morphine or something stronger, pretty much anything’d take the edge off right about now.

Due to having to let the production crew know Bobby’d to be rushed to the hospital, the body guard said she may as well ride with him. His other reason was that she clearly knew medical lingo, so she’d be able to explain thingsta the ER team just as well as the EMTs could, maybe better. She’d no doubt be of more help to him in that case, even though she obviously _wasn’t_ one of his Powers of Attorney. After he’d told the production crew the bare minimum, he’d catch up with them, hopefully to find out that his friend was doing far better than he was right now.

Three hours after arriving at Cedars-Sinai, Raven and Big John were sitting in the surgical waiting area as they awaited word on the bassist. But he turned out not to be the _only_ one they were awaiting word on, as they found out shortly after their arrival in this particular area. It turned out that Bret’d gotten into a nasty wreck about the same Time the young woman’d found Bobby, and their manager’d been trying to call since he and the body guard both served as Powers of Attorney for the entire band.

While the bassist was having his rectum pulled back up into his belly and sutured back into place on his pelvic wall, the vocalist was in surgery for broken fingers, a broken nose, and a broken jaw. Bret was lucky to be alive after the wreck he’d gotten into that Night, considering that he’d totaled his Ferrari when he’d lost Control and wrapped it around a telephone pole. No one was entirely sure if he’d been mixing drugs and alcohol again, or if it was simply his diabetes acting up while he was behind the wheel–for all they knew, it coulda been a combination of all three. The thing that mattered was that he was still alive, even though his injuries, alone’d put a serious pause on the new album his friend had talked about them being in the middle of recording.

Not long after glancing at the clock again, a surgical nurse finally came out with an update on both men, which’d the others perking up. She said that they were just closing Bobby up after getting his rectum back into its proper place, and that they’d be bringing him outta the worst of the anesthesia shortly. At the same Time, they were already bringing the vocalist outta the worst of his own anesthesia, so it wouldn’t be long before he was being moved to a recovery roo. Due to them being close friends, as well as band mates, it’d been decided they’d be put in the _same_ recovery room to better protect their privacy.

“Well, at least there’s that,” Raven sighed, finally slumping against the body guard as the adrenaline rush she’d been riding suddenly disappeared.

“When’re we gonna get to see them, though?” the manager, Howie, asked.

“Once they’re settled in their room,” the nurse answered. “But only two can stay for more than a few minutes till they’re fully awake.”

“I’ll have other businessta worry about, so these two can,” he chuckled as he gestured to the pair with him.

“Body guard and close friend of both,” Big John chuckled when the nurse looked at him. “And she’s the brunette’s girlfriend.”

The young woman didn’t bother trying to argue, considering that she wasn’t _actually_ his girlfriend–she was just competing to be–what with the circumstances.

“I’ll come getcha once they’re settled, then,” she said, nodding as she rose from the seat she’d taken.

“Ya _do_ realize thatcha could get in trouble for lying, right?” Raven asked once she was outta earshot.

“I doubt anyone’s gonna find out,” the body guard retorted. “And besides, even if they _do,_ we can claim that we were at the End of filming and you’d just been named the winner hours before all this started.”

“Not too sure how well that’d work out, but whatever,” she chuckled. “I’m more worried about these two–particularly Bobby–than I am about covering tracks.”

“I’m just curious as to how ya managed to keep your cool so well,” Big John mused, knowing even the manager was wondering that.

“I work part-Time as a nursing assistant,” the young woman laughed. “Not the first Time I’ve been exposed to gross things, or an emergent situation like this–just the first Time I’ve been directly involved with helping a person suffering from Bobby’s plight.”

“Whaddaya mean by that?” Howie asked curiously.

Laughing again, Raven explained how she’d seen this happen only once before during her ED rotation, but she hadn’t been directly involved with the person’s treatment. That was how she’d recognized the bassist’s plight for what it was as soon as she’d moved behind him to examine him as much as she could, and known that she’d to get him help as soon as possible. If she hadn’t, he coulda been dead in a matter of hours from the pain making him stroke out or something, or even Days from the tissue dying due to a lack of blood flow and causing septic shock to set in.

Both men winced at the mere Thought of their friend suffering like that till he finally succumbed, whether it was due to a stroke or something else. At the same Time, both were just grateful that she’d been there when she was, and that she’d known how to handle the situation. Neither’d met a woman who could deal with someone quite literally shitting their guts out with such Calm poise like she’d done this Morn.

Shortly thereafter, the same nurse Returned to get them, saying that both musicians’d been settled in their recovery room. Both were pretty groggy from the anesthesia they’d been given, so they may or may not realize they’d a few visitors. Even if they _did_ realize that they’d visitors, they might still be a lil too drugged to recognize them right off the bat, which was relatively normal. Raven waved off her words, finally telling her that she technically worked in the same industry, so she’d seem this kinda thing plenty of Times before. It’d take at least a couple hours for the drugsta wear off completely, and even then, they’d still prolly be pretty groggy from their bodies asserting a Natural need for rest.

In the room they’d both been moved to, Bret and Bobby were propped up in their own beds, both wearing oxygen masks to help them breathe better. The blonde definitely looked worse for wear as compared to his friend, but that wasta be expected after a nasty car accident. Not only that, but he’d a few broken ribs, which no doubt wasn’t helping how well he could or couldn’t breathe at the moment. At least they were both stable enough to have visitors, which was a good sign, as far as the young woman was concerned.

_“Mmm,”_ the bassist hummed, cracking open his eyes as he felt someone grab his hand. “R-Raven?”

_“Shhhh.”_ She gently stroked the back of his hand with her thumb as she leaned down to kiss his forehead, Bret cracking open his own eyes. “Get some rest, hon–you’re gonna need it.”

“So tired,” Bobby mumbled behind his oxygen mask. “And my stomach still hurts.”

“That’s prolly from just getting outta surgery,” the young woman chuckled. “But I’ll explain that later, once you’ve gotten some rest and you’ll actually understand.”

“Stay with me?” he veritably begged, giving her the _puppy-Dog_ eyes as he pouted up at her.

“I wouldn’t Dream of going anywhere else except maybe the bathroom,” Raven promised, squeezing his hand a bit tighter for a few moments.

“Good–don’t wanna be alone,” the bassist told her.

“Ya wouldn’t be, even if I weren’t here,” she said. “Big John’s here, too–and so’s Bret, for that matter.”

Said vocalist looked completely lost as he watched and listened to the exchange, the body guard gently reassuring him.

“Good–don’t like hospitals,” Bobby murmured as he started to settle down.

“I think someone needs a lullabye, of sorts,” the young woman chuckled.

“I think you’re right,” Big John agreed with a chuckle of his own.

_“So, you wanna talk about the pain… Talk to me, please explain_ – _maybe I know what you’re goin’ through,”_ Raven sang as she settled in a chair next to his bed. _“You got so much pain to hide_ – _ya keep it locked up deep inside, in a room no one gets to…”_

Even Bret was starting to look Entranced by the soft, sweet voice as it lulled him to sleep.

_“I can’t feel the way ya feel… Maybe I_ – _I’ve got those same scars…same scarsta Heal…”_

The bassist smiled behind his oxygen mask as he squeezed her hand, his eyes already starting to flutter shut, too.

_“You’ve got to understand, I wanna be the only one to…ever touch you, baby…to ever…”_

Even the body guard was starting to look a lil sleepy, even though she knew he really wasn’t, as he listened to her sing.

_“I’ll be there, should the Sun go down_ – _lift you up to a higher ground… Let me in, lemme be the one… I’ll be there, shouldja fall from Grace… Wipe those tear drops from your face_ – _I see no more damage done… Baby, baby, I just_ – _let me…be the one.”_

By the Time Raven finished what was obviously the chorus of a song none of the men recognized, both musicians’d given in and dozed off. That was exactly what she’d wanted when she’d started singing, though, hence why she’d chosen now to unveil something she’d been working on for the last couple weeks. Granted, she’d hoped for a better place and Time than this, but it wasn’t like she could completely Control the circumstances that surrounded her.

Keeping her gaze locked on Bobby’s sleeping face as she raised his hand to gently kiss the back of it, she paid no mind to being watched by the lone man who was still awake. But that lone man saw far more than just a woman Comforting her friend while he was ill–he saw a woman who was madly in Love worrying about the man who’d stolen her heart. If she wasn’t picked as the winner of this ridiculous dating show–whether they decided to cancel filming due to his Health or not–he’d be damn surprised by his friend’s choice. After all, it was this woman who’d caught his attention from the first moment outside that house, this woman he obviously preferred to spend more Time with than any of the others.

However, whether the show was discontinued or they picked up with filming once the bassist was Healed enough and cleared to do so, the Love in this woman’s eyes’d no doubt remain. In fact, Big John’d the feeling that if his friend were to add her to his reject list during the next elimination–assuming the show continued, that is–this woman’d never speak to him again later on down the road.

Settling back in his own chair, which was parked between both musicians’ beds, he simply watched over both as they slept peacefully. Well, as peacefully as a man who’d to have his guts pulled back up and sutured back into place and a man who’d narrowly survived a car accident _could,_ that is. At least they were both alive and starting to recover, even though both their recoveries were bound to be long, painful, and arduous. This’d just be another crazy tale they could tell later on down the road, and one more thing to be thankful for when they counted their individual and collective Blessings.


	6. Five

“Ow–fuck me nekkid and running!”

Bobby couldn’t help his pained yelp when he woke later that afternoon and made to push himself a bit more upright so he could readjust his pillows. That slight action’d set off a throbbing in his belly the likes of which he’d never felt before, and not only was it particularly painful, but it’d startled him, too. In fact, it was painful enough to leave his vision swimming, so he didn’t even notice that he’d startled the three others in the room with him awake, too.

“What the–Bobby?”

Glancing to his left once his vision’d cleared, he was more than a lil surprised to see Bret in the bed next to his own–as well as realize that they were in the hospital.

“Da fuq happened last Night?” the vocalist asked. “I thought I was in my car alone.”

“’Cuz ya were, according to Howie.”

That made him glanceta his right, which revealed Raven. “Then what happened to us? ’Cuz he looks like he got beaten up in an alley, and I feel like somebody tried to gut me.”

“Sadly, you’re not exactly wrong–on _either_ count,” the young woman sighed as she gently squeezed his hand.

Both musicians listened as she explained what Howie’d told her and Big John when they’d all wound up meeting up in the surgical waiting area. The bassist couldn’t help a wince as he looked back over to his friend, wondering how on Earth he’d managed to survive totaling his Ferrari. Granted, that didn’t mean he wasn’t thankful that he’d survived–it just sounded like it was a horrifying wreck that most woulda died in.

Once they’d both been filled in on the vocalist’s injuries–which’d no doubt put a lengthy pause on the album they’d been working on in recent months–she turned to explaining the other half of the story. Again, both winced as she explained what she’d wound up finding after waking up at the start of the Witching Hour and leaving her room for a glass of Water. Now knowing that he’d quite literally shit his guts out and needed surgery to repair the issue, Bobby wasn’t exactly surprised that his stomach hurt like a mother fucker. Hell, he’d have been surprised to wake up and _not_ be hurting unless he was drugged, when it was put like that.

“The good thing’s that your both still alive,” Raven chuckled.

“No fuckin’ shit,” he agreed, reaching up with his free hand to shove his hair back. “I guess I’m just surprised you’re here now.”

“Bobby, all that foolishness of a fuckin’ dating show be damned, I wouldn’t have stuck around, if I didn’t care,” the young woman told him. “Nor would I’ve started writing the song I used as y’all’s lullabye earlier for ya, if I didn’t.”

“Wait, what?” Bobby looked as confused as he did surprised.

She simply wore a smirk, but the Love still shined in her eyes as she sang the same verse and chorus as she’d sang earlier.

“Sweetheart…” The bassist actually had tears in his eyes as he managed to pull her against him, both mindful of the stitched incision in his lower belly.

_“Ti amo, il mio occhi marroni Volpe_ – _di gran lunga più di quanto dovrei…”_ Raven murmured in his ear.

“Huh? I’m afraid I don’t speak Swahili,” he said as he pulled back just enough to see her clearly.

“I said, _I love you, my brown-eyed Fox_ – _far more than I should,”_ the young woman chuckled.

“That’s it–consider that ridiculous show cancelled,” Bobby told her, biting back a laugh since he’d no doubt it woulda made his stomach hurt even worse. “You’re the one who caught my eye–and my heart–the second I walked out the front door on that very first Morn.”

Laughing enough for both of them, she told him that she’d already figured out that was the case, just going by the way he wanted to spend so much Time with her. Not only that, but it was in his eyes every Time he looked at her, whether he thought she didn’t notice or not. And another thing that told her how he felt more so than any words that came outta his mouth was his very Energy.

The bassist looked as confused as his friends, who were listening Intently, which made her just smirk slightly as she grabbed both his hands. In being an Empath, it was a bit harder for her to accomplish this part, but she could still manage a good bout of Projection when she felt like it. With her eyes closed and his hands held fast in hers, she put that skill to good use as she started Projecting what she felt onto him. She knew it’d be more than a lil surprising to him at first, which’d no doubt result in at least a soft gasp and him tightening his grip on her hands.

Just as she’d suspected, he gasped as he felt more Love than he’d ever felt in his Life, but that wasn’t the only thing he felt. He also felt a fierce protectiveness–of him, his son, and any of his other friends and family he held near and dear–that was nothing short of a mama Bear defending her cub. No one else’d ever felt this way about him, nor had they ever been able to let him know–with or without words–like she was just by holding his hands in her own.

“Holy fuckin’ shit,” Bobby breathed, his eyes the size of dinner plates when she opened her own again.

“Whatcha just felt–that’s everything I feel about _you,”_ the young woman chuckled. “No doubt more’ll be added to that as Time passes, but I can only Project what I feel in the here-and-now.”

“It’s damn sure more than I’ve ever felt from anyone else,” he admitted. “Especially my ex-wife, and toward the End of our marriage, at that.”

“Well, there’s a couple things few know about me,” Raven said. “Firstly, my name’s not really Raven–it’s just a nickname that ties into my given name.”

“Then what _is_ your name? ’Cuz now I kinda feel like you’ve been lying to me,” the bassist groused.

“Morrígan, like the Celtic Goddess of War, Death, Sovereignty, and Prophecy, among many other things,” she answered. “But a lotta folks’ve trouble pronouncing it correctly–especially if I just write it out or finger-spell it.”

“Wait, whaddaya mean by _finger-spell?”_ Bret asked, his words sounding a bit funny due to his missing teeth and wired jaw.

Grinning, the young woman took her hands back and started signing, much to both his friends’ amusement.

“She’s a selective mute till she’s comfortable around somebody,” Big John explained. “She’ll sign, if somebody in the vicinity–like myself–knows sign language, too, or write notes if there’s no one else around who can sign.”

_“Ohhhh.”_ The vocalist nodded as much as he dared, given the way his head was no doubt throbbing.

“That being said, the Raven’s one of that Goddess’ totems,” Raven explained. “She’s also said to be able to shift into a Raven.”

“Which explains why you’d tell folksta call ya _Raven,_ if you’re not gonna actually speak so they can hear how your name’s pronounced.” Bobby was starting to look Enlightened as he listened. “Okay, so maybe ya _haven’t_ been lying to me, _per sé,_ but I still kinda Wish you’d told me sooner.”

“I’d actually wanted to last Night, but the chance never really came up–especially once we were back at the house,” the young woman chuckled. “’Cuz I didn’t like the feeling of even half-lying to ya, even though I really wasn’t.”

After giving them a chanceta process what she’d told them about her name and how the nickname she’d told them to call her by tied in, she took a deep breath. She explained how–having been raised by a Pagan mother, despite growing up in the Bible Belt–she was a Pagan in her own right. One of the many things she’d learned about herself due to that was that she was an Empath, meaning that she was essentially an Energetic kitchen sponge.

Raven explained that in using that description, she meant that she could soak up Energy from various sources around her–other people, the Earth itself, even the Cosmos as a whole. It was just something that was a part of Witchcraft as much as the use of herbs and Crystals, and by Crystals she meant things like chunks of Amethyst and the like.

Due to being an Empath, she could feel the Emotions of others–both good and bad–as if they were her own, which explained why she was often a bit moody. That was the reason why she’d taken a few minutesta go clear her head outside on that very first Day when she’d found out that both Beverly and the body guard could also sign. If she hadn’t Grounded and Centered herself then–and several Times since when she couldn’t sleep–she’d have no doubt wound up in the midst of a Cat-fight. She wouldn’t have started such a thing with any of the other girls, but she definitely woulda Ended one, if they’d come after her first.

“So, you’ve pretty much been able to read my mind, is what you’re saying?” the bassist asked with a chuckle.

“In a way, yeah,” she answered, laughing as she nodded. “I may not know every Thought that runs through your head word-for-word, but I can pretty well guess based on what I feel in your Energy.”

Bobby couldn’t help a grin, part of him thinking that’d make Communicating with her so much easier.

“Kinda like right now, it’s not Bret’s expression that’s telling me he’s wary of me admitting to being a Lifelong Witch,” the young woman continued.

“Wait, really?” He looked surprised when she said that.

“I’m pretty sure you’re both what’re called Projectors, meaning ya tend to throw out more Energy than ya take in,” Raven explained. “But the difference’s that both of y’all do so unconsciously–meaning ya don’t realize it, nor have Control over doing so–whereas I do it consciously.”

“Meaning thatcha _know_ you’re doing it, and you’ve Control over it,” Big John mused, a thoughtful look on his face.

“Exactly.” The young woman nodded. “In being an Empath, I don’t necessarily need physical contact with someone else who’s Projecting to feel their Energy and Emotions.”

“That’s gotta suck sometimes,” he said.

“Yeah, it does since it can get overwhelming at Times,” she agreed. “But that’s what the Grounding and Centering’s for–it lets me get my head back on straight and purge anything that’s lowering my vibration so the Earth can Cleanse it away.”

“Which means that right now, ya can feel whatever Bret’s feeling, even if it’s _not_ written on his face,” Bobby said.

“Bingo, even though I’m obviously not so much as holding his hand,” the young woman chuckled.

Their conversation was put on pause when a nurse walked in to do her rounds, a smile appearing on her face when she saw that both men were awake. Hearing that they were both fairly coherent and holding a decent conversation–even if one _was_ quieter than the other for once–made her smile grow even more. She said that once she’d gotten their vitals, she was gonna go find their respective doctors so said doctors could update them on their conditions a lil better.

It wasn’t long before that nurse Returned, a pair of men dressed in scrubs topped by a lab coat following in her wake. Bobby gladly shook the hand of the one that introduced himself as Dr. Miguel Lopez, who’d been the one to split him open and pull his guts back up into place. He was definitely curious about his prognosis, both long- _and_ short-term, which included how long it’d be before he could get outta this hell-hole.

Even Big John laughed at his groan when he was told that it’d prolly be a Day or two before he was discharged, and that there was one main requirement for that happening. Considering what’d landed him in here in the first place, he’d to prove that he could take a shit without shitting his guts out again before he’d be discharged. Granted, Dr. Lopez hadn’t quite phrased it like that–he’d chosen the phrasing _prove to be able to have a bowel movement without having a relapse_ –but they all got what he was trying to say. Bobby was just mortified at the Thought of having to do such a thing ’cuz he considered it as intimate and private an aspect of his Life as having sex.

Unable to help a giggle as she gently squeezed his hand, Raven said she didn’t blame him for feeling humiliated at such a thing. After all, he’d been no less humiliated that she’d to examine him early that Morn just to find out what was wrong with him in the first place. She’d expect no less than him being humiliated by such a requirement being put on his getting discharged sooner, rather than later. Course, she was also quick to say that he’d best be glad she’d found and diagnosed him when she had, or he might be suffering a Fate she considered worse than Death.

“And what Fate’d _that_ be?” he asked, cocking a brow at her.

“A colostomy bag,” the young woman answered with a snicker.

“Uh, do I even wanna know?” Bobby asked, now looking confused.

“It’s what the colon empties into when it’s to be rerouted outside the body through the abdominal wall,” Dr. Lopez answered with a chuckle. “If it gets too full and backs up into the body ’cuz it’s not changed often enough, it could cause an intestinal rupture.”

“Good fuckin’ God–count me out on that!” the bassist spat. “No, thanks–I’d rather _not_ walk around with my shit in a bag attached to my belly!”

Even Bret couldn’t bite back a laugh–despite how it made his chest throb–at his Vehemence.

“I thought you’d rather have surgery to pull your guts back up where they belonged, or even go into your grave a few decades too early, over suffer _that,”_ Raven laughed.

“I’d rather fuck a meat grinder and never be able to get laid again,” he groused. “Even though it feels like somebody tried to gut me with a broadsword right now.”

“Well, we can always give ya another dose of Morphine for that,” his surgeon told him. “Although, considering it can cause constipation, I wouldn’t recommend such a thing _too_ frequently, no matter how bad your pain is.”

Bobby cocked a brow, wondering how on Earth having a painkiller could be a bad thing right now, no matter what kinda side effects it carried. That was when his surgeon explained that a rectal prolapse was generally caused by the excessive straining of being constipated, but could also be caused by the excessive straining of having diarrhea, too. Since he hadn’t been completely filled in on his condition _before_ being brought to the hospital, he wasn’t too sure which of those gastric problems’d most likely caused his rectal prolapse, so he didn’t wanna potentially cause a recurrence with medication that was supposed to be helpful.

Sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose, Big John admitted that not only did the two currently laid up have more than a bit of a drinking problem, but so did their band mates. It seemed that not a Day went by that they didn’t kill off at least a six-pack on their own, sometimes more like a twelve-pack. To be quite honest, though, he was pretty sure they killed off far more than that and just couldn’t remember _how much_ most Times.

Dr. Lopez nodded as Enlightenment Dawned on his face, his attention quickly turning back to his patient as that expression morphed into a stern one. He said that what’d most likely happened was that he’d given himself a constant case of diarrhea with all the drinking, and the constant excessive straining’d sheered his rectum away from his pelvic wall. Once it’d completely detached, it’d essentially turned itself inside-out as it was pushed outta his body in an attempt at going to the bathroom again. Considering that one’s asshole just wasn’t meant to stretch like that combined with the organ being sheered away from where it belonged, it was no Wonder he’d quite the stomach ache the Night previous.

With that being said, though, he highly recommended that he get himself checked into AA and get treatment for his drinking problem, no matter how big or small it was. Now that he’d suffered one rectal prolapse, he’d a higher chance of it happening again in the Future, and continuing to drink was just gonna make those chances go up even more. The bassist’s face paled almost dangerously as he told him that, mostly ’cuz he knew he was lucky to still be alive this afternoon. If this were to happen to him again, whether he stopped drinking or not, he very well might not survive long enough to even get to the hospital. He might be home alone and not be found by anyone else for hours or Days, which could very easily allow the tissue to die and cause him to turn septic, which’d definitely kill him.

The Thought of leaving lil Zak fatherless due to a stupid choice like that made him decide right then and there that he’d meant what he’d said early that Morn. Bobby’d sworn then that he’d never drink again, if this was the kinda shit that drinking was gonna lead to, and his mind was made up on the matter. As far as he was concerned, this was the End of his party-boy Days, ’cuz he wanted to live so he could see his son grow up and become a better man and father than he’d been thus far.

If that meant he’d to quit his band and live the Life of any other Average Joe–well, he was more than willing to, ’cuz while the band was important to him, there were other things that were more so.


	7. Six

After three Days spent in the hospital to start off his recovery, Bobby was finally discharged on the grounds that a home-Health nurse be hired for at least the first two weeks afterward. He was being put on a medication that should help stop anything like delirium tremens as a result of suddenly ceasing to drink, but Dr. Lopez still wanted someone to help monitor him. The last thing he needed wasta go into delirium tremens and lapse into a seizure, which could very well result in both brain damage in addition to ripping his stitches out. It wasn’t meant to be implied that his supposed girlfriend couldn’t take care of him, but more as a precautionary measure so that if he needed something like an anti-convulsive, it could be administered.

Just like he’d sworn the very afternoon he’d woken up from his surgery, he held fast to the decision that filming _shouldn’t_ be resumed once he’d recovered. As far as he was concerned, he’d found his _Goddess of Rock_ in Raven, and he wasn’t gonna put either of them through a bunch of unnecessary bullshit. The fact that he’d refused to sign a contract to start with meant he got outta finishing what he’d started without a bunch of legal red tape a lot easier, which as a good thing all around.

Course, it’d been a surpriseta get back to what they were now calling the _Goddess of Rock_ houseta find that one of the contestants was still there. Beverly turned out to be a nursing assistant as much as the girl he was so interested in, and once she’d gotten word about his surgery, she’d volunteered to stay out West to help out during the worst of his recovery. That turned out to be a really good thing since it’d been agreed that Bret should be brought here, too, once he was discharged a few Days later. At least they’d both be under the care of medical professionals while they were recovering, and relatively closeta their doctors.

“Jesus fuck,” Bobby groaned, settling on the couch in the family room. “I can’t wait till this damn thing Heals.”

“I’ll bet,” the taller brunette chuckled. “I’ve heard from past patients that surgery’s no fun.”

“Long as I don’t start seizing, I think I’ll be fine,” he told her with a chuckle of his own, which was quickly cut off with a wince. “Ow, shit–don’t make me laugh right now!”

“Hey, you’re the one who choseta laugh!” Beverly retorted, grinning.

“No breaking my man in here, damn it.”

Glancing into the kitchen, they saw Raven coming in with the last of his belongings, which were being moved down from the master suite to make things easier on him.

“I want my man back in one piece eventually, Bev,” she chuckled.

“If he hadn’t already made it clear that he wanted you, I’d be getting jealous atcha referring to him like that,” the taller brunette told her.

“Ah, suck my left lady nut and go after Bret when he gets here,” the younger woman laughed. “Then again, on second Thought, that might not be the best of ideas.”

“Seriously, considering he’s even more banged-up than me,” her now-boyfriend said. “I swear, he looks like somebody beat the shit outta him with a baseball bat, then ran him over with his car for good measure.”

“Well, I’ve heard that car accidents’ll do that to ya,” Beverly chuckled. “What a stroke of Luck for that to happen to him the same Night that _you_ shit your guts out, though, huh?”

“A stroke of some seriously fuckin’ _bad_ Luck,” the bassist grumbled. “’Cuz it damn sure wasn’t _good_ Luck, if ya don’t count snagging the woman of my Dreams as a result.”

“Can’t say I disagree there,” she admitted.

Bobby knew she needed to check his incision and clean it before bandaging it again, but there was a part of him that was simply uncomfortable with such a thing. He didn’t really want anyone but the woman who was now his girlfriend to do such a thing, even though these two were both nursing assistants. If he’d to pick anyone elseta do such a thing–or help him with it, once he figured out how to on his own–he’d have to pick the home-Health nurse he’d been sent home with. Course, he’d let this woman do such a thing, if he’d no other choices–but since he’d another choice right now, he stalled till his girlfriend Returned.

Raven wasn’t surprised to find that her boyfriend was stalling on having his incision checked and cleaned as she walked back into the kitchen from the bedroom he was gonna be sleeping in now. As private as he was about his Life outside his band in Years past, she wouldn’t have doubted that he’d be picky about who touched him in what he considered an intimate manner. While it might not be intimate in the sense of riling him up for a romp or anything, cleaning and bandaging his incision was still a bit on the intimate side in a way.

At least he was willing to let Beverly watch as she took care of that herself, ’cuz if they could raise his Comfort level with her watching, they might eventually convince him to let her do this part, too. The one thing that the younger woman stressed was that if he said no, don’t push the issue with him unless under dire circumstances. She wouldn’t say why she insisted on that, letting them assume that she’d past patients who’d gotten combative and damn near hurt her for doing such a thing, herself. But it was really that she still didn’t know either of them well enough to get into her real reason, which was far more private and intimate than just changing a surgical bandage, as far as she was concerned.

Not long afterward, as she was cleaning up the trash from that particular task, the young woman heard Big John toward the front door. What surprised her–and even the taller brunette–was that they heard an obviously female voice respond to him as he closed the door. But what surprised them further still was when they heard the voice of a toddler, which made Bobby perk up and push himself a lil more upright.

“Daddy!” A toddler who’d to be about three broke away from the woman that appeared with the body guard and scrambled through the breakfast nook.

“Zak, be careful!” the ginger scolded him as he grabbed at the column that essentially turned one giant archway into to smaller ones.

“Hey there, lil man!” the bassist chuckled, biting back a wince as the boy scrambled over to him once he’d gotten down the two small steps that led into the family room. _“Ooh,_ Daddy missed chu bunches!”

“Miss Daddy, too!” He was quick to scramble up onto the couch next to him, accidentally hitting his belly as he moved to stand up and hug his neck.

_“Nyah-ahhhh!”_ Bobby tried to bite back his pained cry. “Careful, lil man–Daddy’s sore!”

“What on Earth…?” The ginger who’d scolded the boy looked confused and shocked.

“Bestcha sit down, Mishy,” Big John said. “And just listen to these two instead of trying to argue with them, for that matter.”

Raven was quick to realize this was her boyfriend’s ex-wife and son, and she’d to quite literally bite her tongue on a few colorful phrases that woulda come out in Italian.

“Raven, Beverly, these’re my ex-wife and son, Mishy and Zak,” the bassist said once he’d caught his breath. “Mishy, Zak, this is my new girlfriend, Raven, and her helper, Beverly.”

“Girlfriend?” Zak asked, cocking his head like a curious puppy as he looked at her.

“’member how I used to say _I love you_ to Mama all the Time?” he countered.

The boy nodded vigorously.

“Well, even though there’s a part of me that still loves Mama a lil bit, there’s a bigger part that loves Miss Raven the same way,” Bobby explained.

_“Ohhhh.”_ His son nodded again before looking over at her. “Chu gon’ be my second mommy?”

“Nothing’s guaranteed since we only recently met,” the young woman answered with a chuckle. “But if Daddy and I decide we love each other enough to get married, I might.”

Mishy clearly looked a bit miffed, like she was biting her tongue on a smart remark due to their son being in the room, but they simply ignored her. Judging by what she could feel in the other woman’s Energy, she’d assumed her ex-husband was gonna chase after her, despite her apparently cheating on him with his now-former best friend. She couldn’t have possibly been more wrong in that assumption, which just told her that she hadn’t gotten to know the man she’d married for who he really was.

With that explained, the toddler turned to his father again and asked why he was sore enough to yell and cry, ’cuz he never did that. Bobby sighed and settled him on his rump so he wouldn’t fall off the couch, then pulled up his shirt to reveal the fresh bandage. Twin gasps rang out as mother and son took in the sight, wondering what coulda happened that’d require such a big bandage across his belly.

“Let’s just say that–whether Zak was or wasn’t–I’ve a reason to get into AA sooner rather than later now,” he said.

“What on Earth happened?” Mishy asked, her eyes wide enough to pop outta their sockets.

“According to Raven and the surgeon that split me open, a rectal prolapse,” the bassist answered. “But to simplify it, I gave a whole new meaning to the phrase _crap your guts out_ a few Nights ago.”

Her jaw dropped down to the floor when he said that.

“Basically, the excessive straining caused by the alcohol-induced diarrhea sheered his rectum away from his pelvic wall,” Raven spoke up, drawing her attention over to her.

“You’re kidding me,” the ginger said, clearly watching her mouth in front of her son as much as her ex-husband was.

“I Wish I was,” she answered, shaking her head. “I was the one who found him a few Nights ago and diagnosed him based on what I saw at work one Time.”

“Whaddaya mean by that?” Mishy asked.

“Beverly and I are both nursing assistants by profession,” the young woman explained. “Seeing a case of rectal prolapse come into the ER I was interning at made me decide I didn’t wanna be a full-fledged nurse, after all.”

She couldn’t help a wince, realizing it must be particularly bad to make someone decide on a slight Change in career when they saw it.

“Once he got to Cedars-Sinai, Bobby needed surgery to pull his rectum back up and suture it to his pelvic wall where it belonged,” Raven explained. “They couldn’t push it back up while he was in the ER, ’cuz there was simply too much exposed tissue and not enough painkillers and sedativesta keep him from feeling it and still while they were working, even once he was unconscious.”

“Yikes–that doesn’t sound the slightest bit pleasant,” the ginger said with a wince.

Bobby shook his own head as he told her that it was definitely _not_ a pleasant experience, one he’d certainly rather not repeat again in his Life. He made no bones that he’d been openly sobbing like a baby the whole Time till he was given that first dose of Morphine in the foyer, which really surprised his ex-wife. Beverly cocked a brow curiously, which made her explain that if there was anyone who _didn’t_ admit to being in pain unless it was severe, it was this stubborn jerk she’d once been married to. Said stubborn jerk, as she’d called him, merely grinned and shrugged as he said that he’d a higher pain tolerance than most guys on the Planet.

With that part explained, he turned his attention to Zak, who was looking completely lost where he sat on the couch next to him. He managed to tell him what’d happened in a way that was dumbed-down and easier for him to understand, which made him gasp. The lil boy gently caressed the bandage, jerking his hand back with a whimper when he winced as he pouted up at him almost Fearfully.

“Is otays, bud,” the bassist assured him as he wrapped his arms around him. “Is sore ’cuz it hasn’t been very long since the doctor’d to cut my belly open is all.”

“That, and it was just cleaned right afore chu and Mama got here,” Raven chuckled as she settled on her boyfriend’s other side.

“Cleaned?” he asked, turning his attention to her.

“Chu ever cut chu knee while chu’s ousside playing?” the young woman countered.

“Uh, huh! No feels good,” Zak answered.

“Mama always cleans it afore she puts a Band-Aid on it, right?” she asked.

“Uh, huh!” The toddler nodded vigorously.

“Well, think of the cut in Daddy’s belly like when chu cuts chu knee,” Raven told him. “Is a lot deeper than when chu cuts chu knee, but it needsta be cleaned, too.”

_“Ohhhh.”_ He nodded again as he started to get it.

“Well, cleaning it so it won’t get what we call infected–which could make Daddy really sick–prolly irritated it a bit,” the young woman explained. “So, not only is it sore just ’cuz dat’s how fresh cuts are, but being irritated from having just been cleaned only makes it _more_ sore.”

“No touchie, den,” Zak said with a decisive nod.

“Prolly for the best, bud,” his daddy chuckled, unable to help another wince. “Dang it–I gotta remember _not_ to laugh, even when I think something’s funny.”

The toddler looked confused as he looked between Bobby and the young woman he’d introduced as his girlfriend, which made at least her laugh. But she was quick to explain that–due to having his belly cut open so the doctor could see his innards–laughing made his cut hurt worse than it already did. It was simply ’cuz the doctor’d to cut through not only his skin, but the muscles of his belly that were hidden _under_ his skin, which always hurt worse than just a flesh wound.

Even Big John was surprised at how well she was handling the boy, considering that–as far as they knew–she wasn’t a parent in her own right. That was a good thing, though, considering that if she was gonna date the man, she was gonna be stuck with his son, too. If she could prove to handle the boy now, it was doubtful that she’d have any problems with him later on, as long as he didn’t get into that _you’re-not-my-mom_ mindset.

It wasn’t long before Zak leaned against his daddy with a yawn, careful not to hurt his belly as he snuggled against him. The bassist seemed more content than he’d seemed the majority of the month that Raven’d known him as he simply snuggled the boy against his side. He’d made no bones about having missed his son in the now-four months since last he’d seen him, so no doubt it was gonna be hard to part them again later on. She just hoped that _later on_ wouldn’t come too soon, and that regardless of when it did, Mishy didn’t try to be too big of a bitch about letting them see each other again.

“So, you’re _really_ Bobby’s new girlfriend?”

Joining the other women after she and the body guard had put father and son to bed for a nap, Raven wasn’t surprised by his ex-wife’s question. Since she considered Honesty the best policy, she wasn’t gonna try to be defensive or otherwise act like she’d anything to hide, but she couldn’t guarantee she’d be very nice about answering her. Based on what she’d been told about this woman, she didn’t like her in the slightest–in fact, she was the one woman who’d been in this house in the last month that she actually _wanted_ to attack.

“As of three Days ago, yeah, I am,” she answered.

“Butcha were on the ridiculous show he somehow got talked into doing?” Mishy asked.

“I was one of the contestants, yeah,” the young woman answered. “And I’ve absolutely no shame in that since sometimes, it takes unconventional means for compatible partnersta meet.”

She looked like she wanted to make a smart remark about that, only to be cut off by a dirty look.

“Don’t even start on me, Mishy,” Raven warned her. “’Cuz to hear Bobby tell it, you were a cocktail waitress when ya met him, so I wouldn’t go around casting Stones till you’re free of sin in your own right.”

“Being a cocktail waitress isn’t sinful!” the ginger snapped.

“Maybe not, but I’m sure that was just code for stripper,” she dead-panned. “Not that I’ve anything against strippers–to each their own, as far as I’m concerned.”

Mishy looked ready to explode already.

“I’m just saying thatcha shouldn’t look down on another when you could be looked down on, yourself.” The young woman simply shrugged. “Do unto others as you’d have done unto you and all.”

“She’s some damn good points,” Beverly finally agreed. “Us being nursing assistants doesn’t mean we’re better than you, ’cuz I’m sure we’ve all done our fair share of sinning.”

Raven snorted as she said they didn’t even know the half of it with her, ’cuz one of the many sayings she lived her Life by was _sin like ya mean it_. If she was gonna do something that others considered sinful, she was gonna push the envelope as far as she possibly could with it, rather than just half-assing it. To her, it was a _go-big-or-go-home_ kinda deal, so she gave it her all just like she did everything else in her Life.

Course, she was quick to say that she wouldn’t so much as cuss in front of a child, let alone anything worse than that. Her moral compass may not point due North, but it always pointed her in the right Direction regardless–and if she wouldn’t do or say certain things in front of her own possible Future children, she wouldn’t do or say them in front of anyone else’s. Anything she did with or said to Bobby that shouldn’t be done or said in front of children wouldn’t be done or said in front of Zak. If she was worried about that kinda thing, she may as well _stop_ worrying about it before she gave herself an unnecessary ulcer or something.

Mishy regarded the young woman with a hard, studious look on her face before she finally sighed and nodded her agreement. The thing that was really eating at her mind now was whether her ex-husband had meant what he’d said about having a reason to check himself into rehab for his drinking now or not. Even cheating with his best friend in a more or less Silent plea to get him to do just that hadn’t worked, considering that having a baby shoulda been enough to get him to and it hadn’t, either.

“That’s entirely up to him,” she told her. “But considering what happened as a direct result of his drinking and the price he’s paying for it now, I’m pretty sure he means it.”

“I guess– Well, it just hurtsta know that having a baby and even doing something I normally wouldn’t have even considered couldn’t get him to,” the ginger sighed.

“Well, some people just have to learn the hard way.” Raven shrugged. “Not everyone’s like me where they find other ways of coping with their pain right from the get-go.”

“Whaddaya mean by that?” the taller brunette asked, looking confused.

“Something that Bobby and I bonded over that I’m not getting into without his permission,” the young woman answered. “I don’t mind telling my own story, but since it’s damn near identical to his, I don’t wanna tell _his_ without him saying I can.”

Mishy’s eyes widened, and she took that as her already knowing exactly what she meant.

“I’m guessing ya already know, if you’re reacting like that,” she dead-panned.

“Too well I know,” the ginger answered with a nod.

“Well, suffice it to say that I know his pain all too well, and wouldn’t Wish it on even my worst enemy,” Raven told her. “I just choseta channel that pain into my Art–which includes Music–and helping others, rather than trying to Destroy myself with substances.”

“Just shows what an incredibly strong woman ya are,” Big John said, gently squeezing her shoulder.

“I’m just hoping that knowing I know how he feels helps him start coping in a healthier manner,” the young woman sighed. “Maybe by seeing my shining example compared to the route he’s taken thus far, having Zak to worry about, and now the rectal prolapse on top of it’ll convince him to Change his ways while he still can.”

“Maybe, but only Time’s gonna tell,” Beverly said Sagely.

Nodding, she said that she was all too aware of that, and that while she was willing to help him to a certain extent, there was only so much she could take. If he relapsed at some point in the Future, she’d try to help him get sober again–but constant relapses, or a relapse without even trying to sober up again’d have her packing her bags and leaving. She’d enough demons of her own clawing at the inside of her skull, and she didn’t need anybody else’s doing the same for too long.

But it seemed that Bobby really _was_ serious about getting dried out now, whether it was for himself, her, or his son. She admitted that he reminded her of her grandfather, and therefore the stubborn streak that ran in her own family from that man’s side. He seemed like the kinda guy that once he set his mind to something, he was gonna see it done or fuckin’ die trying.

Feeling more than a lil overwhelmed by the past few Days, though, Raven soon excused herself out to the back yard. She was feeling a serious need to Ground and Center herself so she could get her head on straight and take care of her man once he woke again. Even the body guard knew that was code for _I’m being bombarded, so I need to get away from humanity for a lil while,_ though. It was for that reason that he managed to keep the other two women corralled in the house so she’d her Spaceta get herself back together.

Watching her as she stood in the grass between the covered and uncovered patios across from the pool, he certainly hoped she could handle his boss. Or rather, _bosses_ once Bret was discharged and brought here to recover, considering his injuries’d been so much worse. Both were incredibly strong and stubborn men, and he knew it was gonna take equally strong and stubborn women to handle them, no matter the situation. The fact that–like any other addict–the bassist was no doubt to be ornery at first due to a lack of alcohol wasn’t gonna help matters, as far as he was concerned. Like with hoping said bassist actually kept his word on getting help for his drinking problem, only Time’d tell just how things were gonna go from here.


	8. Seven

Four Days after his own discharge from Cedars-Sinai, Bobby was shuffling outta the room he’d been moved to in the _Goddess of Rock_ house when he heard the front door open. Since it’d been predicted that his friend would get released by the End of the week, he didn’t doubt that Big John was helping Bret into the house. Normally, he’d have gone to help the body guard–if only with the blonde’s bags–but he couldn’t even pick up his own son and carry him through the house right now. Whether there was the threat of ripping out his stitches or not, it simply hurt too much to try picking up and carrying anything heavier than a gallon of milk.

Moments after he’d gotten to the kitchen and settled at the table in the breakfast nook between the family room and peninsula counter, he heard Bret’s obviously-pained groan from down the hall. No doubt the body guard was helping him take a pit stop in the powder room before helping him to the kitchen to at least attempt finding something resembling breakfast. With his jaw wired shut to allow it to Heal, that was certainly gonna be easier said than done, especially with his diabetesta worry about.

Just as the bassist was pulling up his shirt for his now girlfriend to clean and rebandage his incision again, Big John was helping the blonde into the breakfast nook. They weren’t surprised that he was groaning in pain, considering that he’d several broken ribs on at least one side that made every breath cause pain to scream through his chest. It was for that reason that the brunette managed to kick the chair at the End of the table out, drawing a smile from the burly man that was helping him as he gently steered him over to it. No doubt he was starting to feel like a Lead weight as he struggled to stay on his feet through the agony he felt, and the sooner he was settled, the better.

“Just breathe, man,” the body guard said as he got his ass planted in the chair that’d been kicked out for him.

“I’d rather…just _stop_ …breathing,” Bret managed to grind out.

“I’m sure,” Raven chuckled. “If not ’cuz of your ribs, then ’cuz of the headache your broken nose’s making scream through your skull.”

“Exactly,” the vocalist whimpered. “And don’t…forget my…missing teeth.”

“Yeah, that can’t be helping with any headaches,” Bobby agreed. “As bad as I’m hurting right now, I gotta say, I’ll definitely take _this_ any Day.”

“Lucky…bastard,” he grumbled, a slight smirk belying any malice in his tone.

“No fuckin’ shit–literally!” the bassist laughed. “Course, I damn sure didn’t _feel_ too lucky last week when it actually happened.”

“Gotta…say…” Bret managed to push himself a lil more upright, despite the wince that caused. “I’m…curious now.”

“About what?” He cocked a brow curiously. “How gnarly a scar I’ma have eventually?”

“Well, yeah.” The vocalist chuckled softly. “Never…seen somebody…have to be…split open…to pull…their guts…back up.”

“If it weren’t Time for it to be cleaned, I’d tell ya that you’d be waiting till later to find out,” Bobby said, holding his shirt up outta the way.

Even his girlfriend couldn’t help a laugh as she rolled the waistband of his PJ britches down for even better access. With the entire bandage exposed, she started to gently pick at the medical tape adhered to his lower belly, careful not to dig her nails in too much. Once she’d the corner of the tape up, she gently peeled off one side at a Time till the entire bandage was peeled off, revealing the incision a lil at a Time.

Bret couldn’t help a wince any more than Big John could as they took in the row of stitches that spanned easily two-thirds of his lower belly, give or take. It appeared a bit pink around the very edges, which Raven assured them was perfectly normal for just a week out from surgery. After all, the area was highly irritated from having been cut open and now having to endure almost constant cleaning and dressing. Provided that pink didn’t deepen into an angry red or start showing any other signs of being infected, she wasn’t gonna worry about it and encouraged them to take the same approach.

Unable to help a groan as the young woman started gently attacking it with a Saltwater-soaked Cotton ball, Bobby gripped the arms of his chair tightly. His head tipped back as he bit back a pained cry, the veins in his throat standing out from the effort it took not to blow anyone’s ears out. Even his toes curled almost like he was about to cum hard, but all of them knew damn good and well that wasn’t the case. There’d have been a much happier look on his face, if he’d been about to cum, even if it was a mediocre orgasm he was Graced with.

“Just breathe, _tesoro,”_ Raven murmured, gently kissing his forehead.

“It fuckin’ burns!” he groaned, his teeth gritted tightly.

“Means the Salt’s working,” the young woman chuckled. “Wouldja rather it burn ’cuz it’s working, or for this monster to get infected?”

“I’d definitely rather it _not_ get infected,” Bobby grumbled as his head tipped forward again. “This hurts bad enough, as it is!”

“I thought you’d say that,” she said, quickly finishing up her task as Beverly joined them from upstairs.

“How’s it looking this Morn?” the brunette woman asked with a yawn.

“Still about the same,” Raven reported. “Not really any better since it hasn’t been that long since his surgery, but at least it’s not looking any worse.”

“Good, ’cuz the last thing we need’s for him to wind up _back_ in the hospital,” she chuckled.

“Take care of Bret’s fingers for me while I’m finishing up with Bobby,” the young woman said. “Pretty sure he’d to have at least three put back together during his own hospital stay.”

“All four, actually,” Big John corrected her.

“Even more reason to make sure they get cleaned and bandaged properly,” she chuckled. “’Cuz if he’s to keep going through surgery on them, they might not Heal right.”

“I’d rather…they did…so I can…eventually…play again,” the vocalist managed.

“Then let’s have a look,” Beverly told him as she settled next to him so that she was across from the bassist. “Name’s Beverly, by the way.”

Bret simply hummed and gave a slight nod as he let her gently unwrap the bandage around his left hand, unable to help a wince as she did. Luckily, she didn’t take any offenseta him not really answering, given that she’d already been filled in on his lengthy list of injuries. She’d no doubt that even if he _hadn’t_ broken any ribs, he wouldn’t have wanted to talk very much due to his facial injuries. Combined with the broken ribs, though, she was amazed he was being _any_ amount of vocal, ’cuz she figured he wouldn’t have wanted to talk at all.

As the brunette woman got his hand unwrapped so she could check on the small incisions littering his fingers, Raven was working on applying a new bandage to her boyfriend. The bassist sat still as she measured out the gauze that’d be taped down over his own incision, considering there wasn’t a big enough Band-Aid on the Planet to cover this monster. Once it was measured out, she used the utmost care to lay it across his belly, Bobby moving just enough to press his fingers down in the Center of it so it wouldn’t slip while she was grabbing the medical tape.

Even the body guard and vocalist weren’t surprised that he couldn’t help a wince at his own touch, even though he obviously wasn’t using very much pressure. That made them curious as to how long it was gonna take him to Heal enough to get rid of his stitches, and they weren’t shy about asking. As she taped that fresh bandage down, the young woman turned into a bit of a Parrot, her gaze never once wavering.

“Dr. Lopez says that the average Healing Time for this type of surgery’s four-to-six weeks,” Raven explained as she worked. “It depends on the person, ’cuz some folks Heal quicker than others.”

“I tend to Heal pretty fast, so it might take me four or less,” the bassist chuckled. “Especially if she keeps using Saltwater in favor of using rubbing alcohol or something.”

“Wait, really?” Bret’s eyes widened in surprise.

“The Salt not only cleans the incision, but promotes Healing,” she laughed. “Mostly by keeping it a bit on the drier side so it’s not constantly oozing, which makes for the perfect environment to allow an infection to set in and really take hold.”

“And if _that’s_ what I’d wanted, I wouldn’t have let her call EMS in the first place,” Bobby said. “I’d have just let the tissue stay exposed, die, and cause septic shock.”

The vocalist winced, clearly horrified by the mere Thought.

“I’d say that since I let Raven call EMS for me, I very much _would not_ like to be suffering from some nasty infection that’s ultimately gonna kill me,” he told them.

“I’d say that’s the case, too,” Big John agreed. “My bigger concern at this point’s thatcha learned your lesson with the drinking.”

Nodding, the bassist swore up and down that whatever he’d consumed at dinner on his and Raven’s final date before all this started was his last drop of alcohol. He wasn’t kidding when he said this hurt bad enough that he never wanted to go through it again, and he definitely wanted to be around for his son. Zak didn’t deserve to grow up fatherless ’cuz he was an idiot and didn’t learn from his mistakes, considering that he was an innocent child.

Talking about that reminded him that there was still another part to take care of this Morn as he realized that he was a bit shaky. Bret cocked a brow since–at last check–his lone brunette band mate wasn’t diabetic, so he doubted it was his sugar being too low. His curious look was answered by a chuckle as the young woman Returned to the table after throwing away the dressing change’s trash, a pill bottle in her hand.

Due to the amount he typically drank on a daily basis, Bobby’d been put on a medication to help with some slight tremors caused by ceasing to drink altogether. He couldn’t necessarily be said to be suffering from delirium tremens unless one called it an extremely mild case. After all, while he was exhibiting some shakiness that made him a bit unsteady and a slightly elevated pulse and blood pressure, it wasn’t like he was confused or otherwise delirious. He also wasn’t running much of a fever–his temperature seemed to hover right around ninety-nine-point-three, so it technically wasn’t even classified as a fever by medical professionals. More symptoms that he _wasn’t_ exhibiting were nightmares, agitation, hallucinations, and sweating buckets, which were pretty clear indicators of delirium tremens.

According to Raven as she doled out his medication, the drug he was on was meant to prevent such an onset from even happening. He seemed to be doing pretty good, considering that if he was gonna slip into DTs, it woulda happened about the Time he was discharged from the hospital. Most likely, having been on fluids and roughly half-sedated by painkillers while still admitted was what’d kept _that_ from happening then. It was pretty common to treat the symptoms with sedatives, which reduced central nervous system activity, and the fluids woulda been flushing his system the whole Time he was on them.

“Not that I _like_ having to be medicated for anything,” Bobby chuckled after knocking back the pills he’d been handed.

“Hey, it beats shaking worse than ya are, or seizing to Death,” the brunette woman said as she finished up with his friend.

“I’ve heard a few horror stories of seizures,” he retorted. “And no, I _don’t_ wanna find out if they’re true for myself.”

“Depending on what you’ve heard, I can prolly confirm it as well as Bev can,” Raven laughed.

“Mostly about folks falling and hitting their heads,” the bassist admitted.

“Oh, it can get a lot worse,” she told him. “Try possibly sustaining a neck injury, if the cervical spine’s not stabilized properly as one of the worst results besides brain damage or Death.”

“And that’s not including pissing, shitting, and puking on yourself, waking up confused and disoriented, and just overall feeling like shit,” Beverly added.

“Yeah, count me out on finding out for myself,” Bobby winced. “I’ll be good and take my medicine.”

“Not that we’ve really had to fight to getcha to, anywhore,” his girlfriend said.

He couldn’t help a smile as he pulled her down for a quick kiss before turning her loose so she could get started on breakfast. Such a task was gonna be more complicated than normal since she’d to find a way to avoid teasing Bret besides simply alienating him. After all, it wasn’t fair to him for her to do something like cook bacon or sausage as part of the meal, knowing damn good and well he wouldn’t be able to eat it.

But Raven proved to be a lot craftier in the kitchen than they’d have thought she’d be, ’cuz she managed to make breakfast in a way that the vocalist’d actually be able to partake. Granted, he wasn’t too impressed with her method–he found it more than a lil humiliating, after all–but at least he wasn’t relegated to drinking what amounted to baby formula. Even having to eat with a baby spoon so he could fit tiny bites he wouldn’t choke on through the gap left by his missing teeth was preferable to that. At least he’d get a better source of protein with scrambled Eggs, not to mention at least the flavor of bacon by having them scrambled in the leftover bacon grease.

Even Big John was a bit surprised, but he was glad to see that she’d managed to chop Bret’s Eggs so tiny as she was scrambling them that he wouldn’t choke. The tiny chunks could be fit through the gap in his teeth easily enough, not to mention could be swallowed whole without running the risk of choking him. Well, that was provided he didn’t start coughing and accidentally suck a chunk down the wrong pipe, but they all doubted that’d happen.

As she and Beverly were cleaning up the mess once everybody was done eating, the body guard moved to start helping Bret to the suite he was gonna be staying in. Due to the shower just barely having a small step into it versus having to step over the side of the combined tub, not to mention having a built-in bench, the girls’d given up the suite they’d originally claimed. Now, the slightly older woman was crashing in one of the suites upstairs, the younger one choosing to join the man that was now her boyfriend. However, she’d told him that there was one Time she wouldn’t bother joining him downstairs, but rather throw the body guard outta the master suite. Even though they were now together as a couple, nothing sexual could occur for at least a month due to his surgery, and she wouldn’t wanna torment both of them.

Bobby wasn’t happy that she’d rather sleep in a completely different room from him, but he could also see the point she was making. It’d been long enough since he’d last gotten laid that he prolly wouldn’t be able to Control himself, if she so much as whimpered. This soon after his surgery, he’d no doubt rip his stitches out by so much as servicing himself, and neither of them wanted that. At least trying to help them come up with Creative ways of including the vocalist in each meal since he was actually a really good chef gave him something elseta focus on.

Roughly two hours after starting to figure out how they were gonna feed Bret without constantly teasing him, the bassist was leaning on his girlfriend heavily. His body was demanding more rest than normal as he Healed from his surgery, so he couldn’t help feeling sleepier than normal. Seeing that he needed a mid-Morn nap, Raven simply smiled as they moved him to his new bed, where she joined him till he was deeply asleep.


	9. Eight

_June, 1994_

Over the month that he’d more or less been trapped in the Los Angeles area to recover from his surgery, Bobby’d learned even more about the girl he’d ultimately chosen as his _Goddess of Rock_. As it turned out, she no longer lived anywhere in what was commonly referred to as the _Lower Forty-Eight_ by Alaska Natives. She hadn’t mentioned it during what lil filming’d been done, but she actually lived on the South side of one of the Hawaiian Islands.

Finding that out’d been almost like a stake in his heart, considering that’d put her as living another three thousand miles or so from him. To make this relationship work, either he was gonna have to move from South Florida, or _she_ was gonna have to move back to the mainland. He couldn’t think of any other way they could possibly make this work out, no matter how strong or weak the bond between them.

After being cleared to not only have his stitches removed, but board a plane to fly pretty much anywhere in the World, the bassist’d decided to take a trip with her to Hawaii. Outta all the places his band had performed over the Years, they’d never had a show anywhere in the fiftieth State, not even its Capitol on the Island of O’ahu. He was more than a lil curious since he’d always heard that the climate was pretty similar to that of his home State, albeit with a lot less Rain–well, on the windward sides of the Islands, anywhore. If it was similar enough and he actually liked it, maybe he could be talked into moving to his girlfriend instead of dragging her back East to him.

What he wanted to know as they sat in LAX waiting for their boarding call was what on Earth’d made her decide to go to Hawaii. Raven’d started laughing and shot him a grin, part of her surprised that he hadn’t already seen it in her features. Confused, his brows’d furrowed as he studied her, but he was completely lost–there wasn’t anything about her features that stood out at him and woulda answered such a question. Sure, her skin tone was a bit on the Dark side, but then again, so was his own–and he certainly wasn’t Hawaiian or mixed with anyone who was.

“My Birth father descended from Hawaiian blood,” she laughed. “Ya can see it mostly in the tilt of my eyes–especially when I wear at least eyeliner–and my nose.”

“Wait, really?” Bobby’s eyes widened in surprise.

“My eyes tilt slightly upward at the outer corners, whereas yours tilt downward,” the young woman told him. “And I’ve more of a pug nose like an Asian–which makes sense, given that my blood line can be traced back to Japan–whereas yours looks more like a Native American’s to me.”

“Jesus Christ, you’re good,” he chuckled. “There’s a lotta German and Irish on my dad’s side–wouldn’t have the surname Kuykendall and a redheaded brother, if there wasn’t–but there’s a lotta Native on my mom’s side.”

“If I were to guess, I’d say either Cherokee or Seminole,” Raven mused as she studied him.

“Honestly, I’m not sure,” the bassist admitted sheepishly. “I’m _from_ Florida, and so was my mom, but…”

“I say one of those two ’cuz the Seminole were from Florida,” she explained. “Butcha remind me quite a bit of my pappaw, who was mostly a mixture of Cherokee and Shawnee.”

“Really?” Bobby asked, looking surprised once again.

“I’d almost swear ya were brothers or something, if I didn’t know any better,” the young woman answered.

“Okay, that’s a lil freaky,” he laughed. “Yeah, no–I don’t even wanna think about the possibility that I’ve fallen in Love with my niece, damn it!”

“I highly doubt that’s actually true,” Raven told him. “There’s so many people in the US that the chances of something like that happening’re slim-to-none, at best.”

“Ya know what I meant,” the bassist chuckled.

Perking up as she heard a voice over the PA system make their boarding call, she was quick to get up so they could head off. She didn’t exactly wanna miss their flight, which was gonna be landing across the Island from where she actually lived. However, as she led him off so they could board, there was something that she hadn’t gotten a chanceta tell him and hoped she could _before_ they landed.

* * *

A couple hours after take-off, which put them somewhere between a third of the way to Hawaii and halfway there, Bobby couldn’t help stretching as he made to get up. He was relatively used to long flights–after all, most flights from Miami to Los Angeles were about five hours, and he often made longer flights than that. It depended on where he was going, ’cuz a lotta overseas flights were at least twelve hours, but often far longer than even that. Course, just ’cuz he was fairly used to it didn’t mean he liked it, particularly when body parts started falling asleep or getting stiff.

Since it’d been a while–actually, since before he’d boarded–he headed off to one of the first-class lavatories so he could take a bathroom break. There was no way he was making it another five and a-half hours without a bathroom break, if he didn’t wanna piss himself. At least he wasn’t feeling the need to take a shit at the moment, ’cuz if there was one thing he hated doing more or less publicly, it was that and having sex.

Glancing up from her book when he Returned, Raven bookmarked her page so she could put said book back in her carry-on for now. She hoped like hell they weren’t about to wind up in a fight that got one or both of them arrested the second they landed. Then again, he didn’t really have a right to get pissed at her for what she was about to reveal, considering that he’d done damn near the same thing to her. If that wouldn’t be the pot calling the kettle black, so to speak, she didn’t know what else’d fit that particular analogy.

_“Mmm?”_ The bassist cocked a brow as he peeked out from one eye since he’d Intended to at least try to catch a nap.

“We kinda need to talk about something,” she said.

“Well, _that_ doesn’t sound ominous at all,” Bobby dead-panned, straightening a bit as he turned his full attention to her.

“It’s not ominous,” the young woman chuckled. “Not in the sense that most guys’re used to thinking when a woman says that to them.”

“That so, huh?” he asked, unsure what to make of her words.

“I never said anything before since we were filming and later focusing on your recovery, but it’s not just me you’re stuck with in this relationship,” Raven said.

“What the–don’t tell me I just stepped into an existing relationship as a third wheel or something,” the bassist groaned.

“No, ya didn’t,” she assured him. “Ya woulda not quite two Years ago, but not now.”

Bobby’s brows furrowed, confusion glittering in his eyes.

“What can I say? The World didn’t need to know I’ma mother,” the young woman said, shrugging.

“Wait, what?” He couldn’t help how his jaw dropped.

“You’ve no room to talk shit since I didn’t know about Zak till your ex showed up with him after ya were discharged,” Raven reminded him, her tone equal parts gentle and stern.

“That’s not what I was gonna do,” the bassist swore. “I’m just surprised, ’cuz I figuredja worked in a daycare at one point, or a childrens’ hospital when ya admitted that you’re a nursing assistant.”

“Nope, never done either of those,” she chuckled. “But having a daughter roughly the same age as your son’d certainly give me practice at handling kids his age.”

Bobby watched as she pulled out her wallet, the next thing she pulled out being a picture that was tucked behind her license. It depicted her sitting with a lil girl in her lap, a man kneeling on the ground beside her so that his arm was wrapped around her shoulders. The lil girl that was giggling madly in the picture looked more like the man than she didn’t, but maybe that was due to all the obviously-Polynesian features she’d inherited. Course, just ’cuz she looked a lot like this man didn’t necessarily mean he was her dad–after all, his own nieces and nephews looked a lot like him, considering how much alike he and his siblings looked.

As it turned out, though, the man in the picture was actually Raven’s former husband and the father of her young daughter. She chose the term _former husband_ ’cuz they hadn’t split through a divorce–they’d been parted by Death, rather than anything made or caused by man. The bassist couldn’t help a soft gasp as he digested that, almost immediately wrapping his arms around her when she choked up too much to talk.

Once she’d taken a couple minutesta get herself together, the young woman continued her tale where she’d left off. Her former husband, Keanu Kealoha, had been a first responder when they’d met about the Time that she was guessing Zak was born. They’d shared a whirlwind Romance that’d quickly led to marriage, which’d included him talking her into moving from So Cal out to Hawaii with him. By the Beginning of 1991 when Poison’d gotten back into the studio to work on what was now _Native Tongue,_ they’d become parentsta a surprise baby girl. She was such a surpriseta both of them–and especially the extended Kealoha family–’cuz infertility was apparently something that ran heavily within their blood line.

Having miraculously fathered a child when he’d assumed he never would, Keanu’d insisted that she be named Leilani. That particular name meant either _child of Heaven_ or _Heavenly Flower,_ and whether in a mono- or polytheistic sense, he considered his daughter a gift from above. Raven was quick to agree, but only on the grounds that she got to pick her middle name to Reflect both their heritage. If he wouldn’t let her pick her middle name, she was giving her a name more common to the mainland, whether he liked it or not.

“So, did he letcha?” Bobby asked curiously.

“Keanu was one of those guys where he veritably worshipped the ground his wife–me–walked on and woulda done just about anything to see her happy,” she chuckled, nodding. “So, he never tried to argue with me picking Kami as her middle name.”

The bassist cocked a brow curiously, wondering where on Earth she’d have gotten a name like that from.

_“Kami_ is what the Shinto Pantheon of the Japanese’re commonly called,” Raven explained. “But as a name, it also means _Divine Aura,_ which you’d expect outta a Heavenly or otherwise Celestial body.”

“Ya know, that actually makes sense,” he mused.

“Kinda like the name I get called by most of the locals does, too,” the young woman snickered.

“Do I even wanna know?” Bobby asked.

“Kailani Lona,” she answered with a grin. “Kailani means _Sea and Sky,_ and Lona was the Hawaiian Goddess of the Moon.”

Since he didn’t know a damn thing about Mythology from any culture, the bassist couldn’t figure out how that made any sense at all. Laughing again, she reminded him that she was named after the Celtic Goddess of War, Death, Sovereignty, and Prophecy, among many other things. He was quick to nod as he recalled how she’d said that one of that particular Goddess’ totems was the Raven, which she was said to be able to shift into, particularly when presiding over a battle.

A grin stretched her face as she said that the Morrígan being associated with Ravens and Crows both could be her tie to the Sky. However, she was also a Moon Goddess who ruled over Rivers, Lakes, freshwater, Revenge, the Night, and magick as a whole. That was why she’d told him that she ruled over much more than just the first four things she’d listed, but hadn’t actually added to that list till now. Everyone knew that the Moon ruled the Tides, what with its tugging and pulling Influencing high and low Tide every Day and Night.

His eyes widened as Bobby realized that was how Kailani meaning _Sky and Sea_ could tie back to her actual given name pretty nicely. The fact that the Morrígan and Lona were both Moon Goddesses offered a connection of its own, which certainly made more sense. Granted, he wasn’t too sure he could think of her as anything but Raven, considering that’s how she originally introduced herself and what he’d addressed her by for nearly two months. She didn’t bother trying to bite back her laugh as she told him that she didn’t really care what he called her, as long as it wasn’t derogatory. Her Intent here wasta give him fair warning so that if someone like her mother-in-law referred to her by her Hawaiian name, he’d know who they were addressing.

“Makes senseta me,” the bassist said with a shrug. “I guess if anything, I’m curious about why ya didn’t mention being a widowed mother sooner.”

“Like I said when it comesta Leilani, the World doesn’t need to know about her,” Raven told him. “As for being a widow–well, I don’t think you’d have an easy Time talking about a spouse lost in a Hurricane not even two Years ago.”

He almost choked on his own spit when she told him that. “Wait, what?”

“I already toldja that Keanu was a first responder,” the young woman sighed.

“Yeah, you’ve mentioned that,” Bobby agreed as he rubbed her back.

“He was helping with rescues on Kauai during Iniki,” she explained. “Said Hurricane hit Kauai as a cat-four and all but turned it into Atlantis in comparison to the Big Island.”

The bassist couldn’t help a wince, gently pulling her against his chest.

“I didn’t find out for two Days after his Death, ’cuz it took that long to identify him,” Raven sighed. “And once I finally _was_ notified–well, I’d Leilani and my mother-in-law both to worry about.”

“I guess now, my question’s have ya even tried to take Time to grieve since then?” he asked. “And I’m not asking that to be an ass, so don’t even assume that.”

“I wasn’t gonna,” the young woman assured him with a chuckle. “Truth be told, I’ve grieved as much as having a three-Year-old and an elderly mother-in-law allows–which ain’t exactly much.”

“Prolly next to none then, if we’re both honest,” Bobby said. “I mean, I expect such a thing to take Time–it’s just human Nature. But while I’m willing to help ya as much as I can, I’m not gonna be a rebound or anything along those lines, if I can help it.”

“I wouldn’t say you’re a rebound in the slightest,” she told him. “I’ve dated a couple guys since then–just nothing that went beyond three months, ’cuz they couldn’t handle my being a mother and elderly caregiver.”

The bassist snorted as he made his opinion on such guys quite clear–and it wasn’t a very high opinion in the slightest. Course, in being a father to a three-Year-old of his own, he couldn’t really say anything nice about another guy breaking up with a woman just ’cuz she was a single mother. He held much the same opinion about women who acted like they wanted to be with him till they found out he was a single father still fighting for at least visitation, then high-tailed it away from him as quick as they possibly could.

Raven was more than a lil relieved that he was taking all this even half as well as he was, considering how long they’d known each other. Part of her wouldn’t have blamed him for being at least a lil upset that she hadn’t mentioned any of this sooner. Then again, as she’d reminded him right off the bat, he’d done almost the same thing to her, and for almost identical reasons.

Since they’d still easily four and a-half hours before their flight landed, Bobby simply kept his arms wrapped around her. He was still fully processing everything she’d told him, which was no doubt to keep him from catching as much of a nap as he’d wanted. But there was one thing he was more than a lil thankful for as he tried to settle down for that desperately-needed nap. The young woman he was now dating coulda kept this from him till _after_ they’d landed and made it to her home, which woulda upset him even more. At least she’d tried to rectify the issue as quickly as possible without having to worry about cameras catching it all.

Now, he just had to prove that he really could handle her having a child the same age as his own, which’d no doubt make him miss Zak that much more.


	10. Nine

_Naalehu, Hawaii_

Upon landing at ITO in Hilo–which was on the Eastern side of the Big Island–Bobby couldn’t help the Awe he already felt as he walked outta the airport. It was just as beautiful as Florida was, but it certainly had its own brand of Beauty that wouldn’t be found in his beloved home State. No doubt he’d never find anything like a Waterfall anywhere from the panhandle all the way down to where he lived deep on the peninsula.

After collecting their luggage, he and Raven’d headed out to the long-term parking lot, which was tiny compared to what he was used to. Then again, there prolly weren’t many folks flying outta this airport that were gonna be gone so long that it’d truly be considered long-term. Most folks who flew outta Hilo were prolly either tourists or residents on their way to one of the other Islands, or they were heading to the mainland. If they were headed to the mainland long-term, the chances of them having a friend or relative drop them off were higher than they weren’t.

The bassist wasn’t exactly surprised when he was told it’d take about an hour, hour and a-half to get from the airport to their destination. It depended on how fast Raven decided to drive, considering they were sixty-five or seventy miles away from her home. As far as he was concerned, that just gave them more Time to enjoy the scenery and chat about what they were gonna do while he was here. He couldn’t stay forever unless he moved out here, but he wanted to relax as much as he could while he’d the chance.

“Home, sweet home,” she chuckled as she pulled into her driveway.

Bobby was more than a lil surprised to see a three-bay garage Dominating the front of the house, which appeared to be more of a Floridian style than it didn’t. To the far left, he was pretty sure he saw the front door, but he couldn’t Begin to say whether it led to a foyer, the living room, or some other room. He supposed he’d find out soon enough, but as he opened the passenger’s door of his girlfriend’s car to step out, he was content to simply enjoy the view. After all, what with her Land being as closeta beachfront as he was sure they were gonna get anywhere in the US–even on one of the Hawaiian Islands–not many could say they pretty much had a back yard that stretched to another Continent.

“Well, I’m not too sure _what_ I was expecting,” he chuckled as she led him inside a couple minutes later, allowing him to take in what was apparently the formal living room.

“Prolly something more along the lines of a Tropical hut, not stucco and Marble,” Raven laughed.

“Uh, yeah–I guess we can go with something along those lines,” the bassist admitted sheepishly.

“Just leave your stuff here in the dining room for now,” she told him, dropping her own bags next to the table after leading him up a pair of steps. “We’ll take everything upstairs later.”

“Works for me,” Bobby agreed. “’Cuz I’m assuming it’s _waaaay_ too quiet compared to what you’re used to.”

“It _is,_ and that’s what’s worrying me,” the young woman said.

“Any ideas why?” he asked, unable to help some mild concern of his own since he now knew about her young daughter.

“Well, unless Mama Noelani took Leilani out, I’m coming up empty,” Raven answered.

“I’m sensing a trend with the girls’ names in this family,” the bassist dead-panned with a smirk, laughing as she gently elbowed him. “Well, it’s true!”

“You’re such an ass sometimes,” she told him, rolling her eyes as she headed into the kitchen.

Stuck to the fridge immediately to their left was what appeared to be a hastily-scrawled note clearly ripped outta a notebook. Bobby didn’t have the slightest clue what it said as his girlfriend pulled it loose from the magnet holding it in place, ’cuz it didn’t appear to be written in English. The only word he could actually make out was _Leilani,_ which meant it’d something to do with her apparently-missing daughter.

He was more than a lil disturbed when she gasped sharply, her free hand flying up to cover her mouth as she read the note that’d been left for her. Part of him thought that it was a ransom note, and she was about to have to call the cops so she could report her daughter as abducted. After all, what other kinda note’d mention the toddler in question, but still have the Power to make her react like that? God only knew he wasn’t expecting her to crumple the sheet of paper in her fist and turn to head back toward the living room. The bassist certainly wasn’t expecting her to snatch her keys off the hook by the front door where she’d hung them.

“What on Earth did that note say?” Bobby asked as he chased after her.

“The long and short of it–Leilani’s with a friend of mine in town,” the young woman answered, only pausing to lock up once they were both outside.

“Well, at least she’s safe,” he sighed, following her back to her car. “’Cuz going by your reaction, I almost started thinking that was a ransom note.”

“No, it wasn’t a ransom note,” Raven assured him as they climbed back into her car. “But it wasn’t exactly telling me any good news, either.”

The bassist wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that, so he simply kept his mouth shut.

“My friend Makani and his wife were like siblingsta Keanu,” she explained. “They’d often come over to hang out, not to mention check on those of us that Keanu left behind after his Death.”

“Mark of a true friend, if ya ask me,” Bobby mused.

“Well, apparently Kali–Makani’s wife–came over to check on Mama Noelani and Leilani one Morn a couple weeks after I first left,” the young woman continued.

“So, about the Time we were filming that phone sex challenge?” he asked.

“Between that and the challenge after that one,” Raven answered, nodding as she guided her car back onto the road that’d brought them from Hilo. “Kali found Mama Noelani dead in the family room.”

“Oh, my God,” the bassist breathed, his eyes widening.

“Yeah, you’re telling me,” she sighed.

Raven continued as she drove toward the small Town of Naalehu by saying that her friend had found Leilani curled up in her grandmother’s lap. It appeared the girl thought her grandmother was just asleep, so she was being quiet till she woke up from her nap. Obviously, such a thing was never gonna happen, if the woman’d been dead when her friend found her, but someone so young wouldn’t have known that.

Considering that Noelani Kealoha was so old–she’d been forty-five before she’d ever given Birth to her son–Keanu’d insisted she live with him. He’d also insisted that arrangements be made so that if he was away for work and his wife was at her own job in Hilo, there’d be somebody that could care for his own baby. That was what’d resulted in Makani and Kali being named Leilani’s godparents and legal guardians, should the event that both her parents and any other legal guardians be unavailable for whatever reason ever arise. It was certainly one of the best ideas he coulda had, even if it somewhat predicted his own Death before it ever happened.

For that reason, Kali’d packed up the toddler and taken her home to her husband, then Returned to her friend’s house. With the child cleared out so that she wouldn’t have to see such a sight, she’d reported the elderly woman’s Death and overseen her transport to the local funeral home. But nobody’d been able to get in touch with the young woman on the mainland so she’d know about her mother-in-law’s passing. That was why she’d been completely clueless till she found that note stuck to her fridge door when they’d finally arrived.

“At least she’s been in good hands all this Time,” Bobby said as she slowed to turn into another driveway.

“I wouldn’t trust anyone else with my daughter, long- or short-term,” the young woman told him. “Only reason I’m not saying that about you’s ’cuz we’re still working on getting ya completely dried out, not ’cuz I think you’re a bad dad and can’t handle a toddler.”

“I kinda figured,” he chuckled. “Ya saw me that week with Zak, so ya can form your own opinions on how well I’d handle a three-Year-old as much as I can based on how _you_ handled him.”

“Figured I’d make it clear that I wasn’t trying to offendja,” Raven laughed as they got out.

“Not like ya really had to,” the bassist said. “I mean, it’s pretty common for the mother to get the kid in a divorce, and my drinking certainly didn’t help that. It’s not really a sign of whether I’ma bad dad or not when Mishy prolly woulda gotten custody, even if I _hadn’t_ been a lush.”

“True enough,” she agreed as she headed up onto the front porch of what he considered a more Traditional-looking home for Hawaii.

“Kailani!” the woman who answered her knock moments later squealed.

“Hey there, Kali,” Raven chuckled, Returning the hug she was given.

“I don’t think I need to ask if ya found my note or not,” she said, stepping back to let them in.

“First thing I saw when I walked into the kitchen,” the young woman told her. “I just got back from the mainland.”

Nodding, the woman she’d called Kali said she’d tried to get in touch with the contact number she’d left behind, but nobody’d answered. She wasn’t too sure if that was ’cuz she’d accidentally called the wrong number, there was just no one there to answer the phone, or what. It didn’t really matter to her, ’cuz her friend knew her well enough to know that she’d have kept trying to get in touch with her till she showed up, whether it was ’cuz she’d finally gotten through or as a result of finding her note.

Raven told her that if she’d gotten word that anyone’d been trying to call her, she’d have at least Returned her call. Even if she hadn’t been able to come back home immediately since she was busy with taking care of her boyfriend, she’d have gotten in touch with her long enough to find out what she wanted, if nothing else. That led to her introducing her friend to said man, who’d simply been quietly listening to their conversation.

Bobby gladly shook the other woman’s hand before stepping back, content to just let his girlfriend handle picking up her daughter. It turned out that the toddler was in the middle of her nap, and like any other decent parent, she didn’t wanna wake her up just yet. That gave them Time to explain what she’d meant about taking care of her man, considering that he now seemed as healthy as a Horse. Going by outward appearance, he knew she was bound to think that he’d a cold or something, but most folks didn’t stay sick with a cold for nearly two months without it turning into pneumonia.

“No, it wasn’t a cold or anything like that,” he chuckled. “Had some complications that stemmed from too much booze and required surgery to correct.”

Kali’s eyes widened when he said that. “Which means that Kailani put her skills as a nursing assistant to work.”

“Pretty much, although I didn’t know about her profession till right before she called EMS for me,” the bassist chuckled.

“Ya seem like you’re not bothered by her being a single mother,” she mused, studying him carefully.

“Well, how can I talk shit about her having a young daughter when I’ve a son of my own about Leilani’s age?” Bobby laughed. “Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, as it were.”

“Really–you’ve a son?” the other woman asked, looking surprised again.

“Zak’ll be four in December,” he answered, nodding.

“Leilani’ll be four in February,” Raven chuckled. “Seems they’re closer in age than even I first thought.”

“Maybe that’ll help with them getting along better,” the bassist said. “’Cuz if we manage to stay together for longer than a month, they’re gonna _have_ to meet eventually.”

“Just like one of us’ll wind up having to uproot ourselves and our baby to move closer to the other,” she agreed.

They didn’t get a chanceta explain what she meant before they heard a soft noise that made them glance down the hall that opened up from the living room. A small body appeared to be toddling down said hall, and it soon became clear what they were seeing heading toward them. Once it got closer and came into better lighting, Bobby realized it was his girlfriend’s daughter, ’cuz this was a slightly older version of the lil face he’d seen in the picture she’d shown him.

Leilani’s sleepy-eyed expression turned excited when she realized her mother was standing in front of her, sending her running for her with a squeal. The young woman laughed as she picked her up, careful not to hit either of those with her as she spun her around in a couple Circles. Once she’d come to a stop, she spun her daughter in the opposite Direction an equal amount of Times before she stopped spinning altogether.

“Chu home, Mommy!” she cried happily, wrapping her lil arms around her mother’s neck.

“Yesh, Mommy’s home,” Raven chuckled, rubbing her back as she hugged her.

“Gama in her new home,” the lil girl said, a slight pout marring her features. “Auntie Kali says dat’s wiff da Faeries naow.”

_“Nuuuu_ be sad,” she told her. “Gama being wiff da Faeries means she getsta dance and play all she wantsta.”

“Yesh!” Leilani nodded emphatically before turning her attention elsewhere. “Who she?”

Bobby snorted, but couldn’t help a laugh, considering that she was looking dead at him. “Gee, I didn’t know I was a lady.”

The lil girl jumped at the depth of his voice, which she clearly wasn’t expecting.

“Dis ish Mr. Bobby,” his girlfriend chuckled, rubbing her back again. “Him’s Mama’s new boyfriend.”

“Weally?” She seemed as surprised as she did skeptical. “Why him gots long hair likey a lady, if him’s a boy?”

“’Cuz I don’t look good wiff short hair like most boys do,” the bassist chuckled. “I look better wiff long hair, just likey some of my friends do.”

Leilani looked at her mother, a fairly serious look on her face for a child of her age. “Ish Mr. Bobby gon’ be mah new daddy?”

“He might be,” Raven answered. “Mama _nuuuu_ met him till I went to California, and we’re still getting to know each other.”

“Gosta knows him good afore him can be mah daddy!” the lil girl said emphatically.

“Dat’s right,” she agreed, nodding. “Which ish why him decided to come home wiff me–so we could getsta knows each other betters, as well as meet chu.”

He gave her a nod of his own as she looked back to him, unable to help the feeling of his heart swelling within his chest. Getting to meet his girlfriend’s daughter made him feel the longing of wanting to be with his son all the more acutely, but he was quick to bury it. For right now, it was better to focus on this li cherub of a girl and her mother since it wasn’t like he could take his case back to court just yet.

After collecting Leilani’s belongings, they headed back out to her mother’s car so they could head those couple miles back outside town. The lil girl seemed excited to tell her mother what all she’d done ever since her departure back in April, which no doubt seemed like a Lifetime ago to her. Raven was all too content to seem like she was listening Intently on their short drive home, even though she was no doubt tired. But that just gave her boyfriend a taste of what it was gonna be like once they were back at said house with her, no one else around to help them.

Once they’d arrived back at said house, Bobby took the lil girl into the house so he could get started on lunch for all of them. He still couldn’t pick up and carry very much–even just carrying Leilani into the house made his stomach ache a bit–so he hadn’t wanted to push himself too much. That didn’t mean he couldn’t put his skills as a chef and father to use, though, since he couldn’t really help any other way, which was a big enough help to his girlfriend.

By the Time he’d gotten lunch done for all of them, the young woman’d finished bringing her daughter’s belongings into the house. Much like their own stuff, it was promptly discarded in the dining room for the moment, and he took that to mean that the lil girl’s room was upstairs. He wasn’t surprised by that, ’cuz if he’d lived in a two-story house, he’d have no doubt put Zak in whatever bedroom was closest to his, too. At least he’d be able to keep an ear out for him better, especially at Night once he’d been put to bed and break-ins were harder to see coming. It bespoke just what a good mother she was, and that gave him even more Hope that their relationship’d work out since she’d no doubt be the same way with said son.


End file.
